Irish League Football

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Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton acknowledges the result is the only thing that matters in Sunday's BetMcLean Cup final against Glentoran, with the means of achieving the desired outcome much less significant.

The 52-times capped Northern Ireland international aims to guide his side to a second trophy success of his tenure after the Reds beat Linfield to lift the Irish Cup at Windsor Park 10 months ago.

"Sometimes it's not about how you win it, it's just about winning it," Magilton told BBC Sport NI.

"Declan [Devine, Glentoran manager] will be desperate to bring more silverware to the Oval and I'm desperate to bring more silverware to Solitude and to our fans who have been magnificent this season.

"The final comes and goes so quickly in the blink of an eye and it's about focus, a real focus of attention on our opponents, who are going to provide really tough opposition, and of course on ourselves, how we are going to win."

Magilton believes the club's long-serving striker Joe Gormley will have a key role to play in the decider.

"He's had an incredible season for us - his goals have kept us within touching distance, his goals have always helped this football club. He's a wonderful player.

"We've played him probably a little too much at times, which has resulted in him having to be rested.

"But it's Joe Gormley, it's a cup final, and I'm sure he'll be ready.

The Reds boss has great respect for Glentoran manager Devine, having previously worked with the former Derry City boss while working for the Irish Football Association.

"I've had the absolute pleasure of working beside him at the IFA and he's done an incredible job at Glentoran," said Magilton.

"He's brought his own character and personality and determination to that team and they've had a great season thus far."

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Glentoran manager Declan Devine says he wants to secure more of the silverware that the club craves when his side faces Cliftonville in the BetMcLean Cup final at Windsor Park on Sunday.

The Glens ended a five-year wait for a trophy success when they defeated Larne in the County Antrim Shield final in January.

"It would mean everything, you set out at the beginning of the season, you want to win silverware. We're fortunate to have the CAS in our cabinet but here you're going into an incredible day out," Devine told BBC Sport NI.

"We know we haven't had the success in recent years that a club of Glentoran's size demands. We've only made the final – we have to make sure that we walk out with the trophy.

"Two huge clubs, two big supports coming together for a huge occasion in the National Stadium. It'll be a fantastic occasion but you want to be coming out with a positive result at the end of it."

The Glens boss believes the decider will see both sides exhibit an attacking philosophy.

"I expect them [Cliftonville] to bring a lot of quality and a really high level of goal threat. I think it will be an entertaining game – I don't think either team sets up defensively, both teams will have a right go.

"The club has been starved of success for a long time. The last time they won a cup final at Windsor Park here was during Covid and there were very limited supporters here.

"The County Antrim Shield final was at Seaview, and with the greatest of respect to Seaview, you can only get so many fans in there. We want the supporters to get behind us as they have done all season and it would be a fantastic achievement for us to send them home happy."

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Crusaders manager Declan Caddell has been named as the Northern Ireland Football Writers' manager of the month for February after his side won each of the four matches they played during the second month of the year.

The Crues beat Limavady United in the last 16 of the Irish Cup, before defeating Larne, Ballymena United and Glenavon in Irish Premiership games.

Crusaders currently sit fourth in the league table ahead of their home match against Linfield on Friday night, a game which will be broadcast live on BBCiPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

Caddell, in his first season in charge of the north Belfast club, also won the monthly managerial prize in October 2024.

"It's an honour to win this prize, once again," said Caddell.

"It's been a strange season in some ways, because we've had great runs of form and then periods where we have struggled for a result.

"Thankfully, we've performed well in the league in recent weeks. Hopefully, we can kick on from here and finish as high up the table as possible."

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Manager Dean Smith's departure from Loughgall has been called a case of "unfair dismissal".

A statement posted by the club on X said they had "parted company with manager Dean Smith by mutual consent" on Thursday evening.

However, this was then contested.

A statement from JWB Consultancy said: "We represent Mr Dean Smith. Our client has not agreed to terminate his contract.

"The statement issued [on Thursday] by Loughgall FC is factually and legally incorrect and amounts to unfair dismissal. There will be no further comment as this is now a live legal matter."

The Villagers are bottom of the league and 12 points adrift of 11th-placed Carrick Rangers.

Smith has been serving a 15-game ban for breaches of the Irish Football Association's disciplinary code following Loughgall's 2-1 defeat to Glentoran in January.

He was given a 10-match ban for breaching article 23.1 which involves "offending the dignity of a person or group of persons through contemptuous, discriminatory or denigratory words or actions concerning race, colour, language, religion, sectarianism".

A further five-game suspension was imposed under article 14.1 which deals with players or officials "reported for unsporting conduct towards a match official".

Smith led Loughgall to promotion to the top flight in the 2022-23 campaign and they finished ninth in the Premiership with 13 wins last season.

They have, however, struggled throughout this campaign.

The side have not won a league game since November and were knocked out of the Irish Cup by Championship side Ards last weekend.

When contacted by BBC Sport NI on Friday morning, a Loughgall FC spokesperson said that the club did not wish to make any further comment at this time.

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After Glentoran's 1-0 win over Ballymena United at the Oval on Tuesday night, BBC Sport NI got the views of both managers.

Glentoran boss Declan Devine on his side's victory:

"Tough game, obviously.

"We had a couple of opportunities to score and make the ending a bit easier on us.

"We're better than that, we can have more control than that.

"The ultimate goal was to get three points."

On the response to last week's Irish Cup exit to Bangor:

"We needed a response tonight. The players were hurting, we were all hurting, we were all sore after Friday.

"The anxiety crept in because we were hanging on.

"It was so important to get three points by any means. In periods we were good and in periods we were anxious."

Ballymena manager Jim Ervin on his side's performance:

"Extremely disappointed. It's another game I feel we haven't got what we deserved.

"Ultimately when you're on top in these games you need to score in order to get something from the game.

"First half we were super, actually, caused them a lot of problems with the boys up front.

"Second half, we didn't come out. Last 20/25 minutes we looked dangerous again, but the keeper has made a worldie, a great save.

"Performance-wise, other than 15 minutes at the start of the second half, I think the players were superb, gave me everything. On another night, we maybe score one or two goals, even three."

On refereeing decisions:

"The boys are gutted, they've come in at half-time and they feel the ball is over the line [from Stephen O'Donnell's header]and they should have had a penalty.

"I haven't seen any footage, so I'll wait and see any footage before I comment but they're adamant that the ball was over the line and that the foul [by Frankie Hvid] was in the box."

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Both Irish Cup semi-finals will be live on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website with Cliftonville facing Ards at Windsor Park on 28 March and Bangor taking on Dungannon Swifts at Seaview on 29 March.

The holders' contest with Ards will kick-off at the National Stadium on the Friday night at 19:45 GMT with the second semi-final starting at 17:30 on the Saturday at the north Belfast venue.

Saturday's second semi-final will also be live on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds.

Cliftonville maintained their hopes of back-to-back Irish Cup successes by beating neighbours Crusaders 2-1 on Saturday.

Championship side Ards defeated Loughgall 2-0 to keep alive their ambitions of a first Irish Cup triumph since 1974.

Their north Down neighbours Bangor achieved the big quarter-finals shock by defeating previously in-form Glentoran 3-1.

Bangor's only previous Irish Cup triumph came in 1993.

Their semi-final opponents Dungannon Swifts have never won the competition with the Tyrone club's only final appearance coming 18 years ago when they lost the decider to Linfield in a penalty shootout.

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Portadown manager Niall Currie said his side's display in their 2-0 defeat by Coleraine was the "poorest performance" they have had all season.

A deflected effort from Ronan Doherty in the first half and a second-half goal from Jamie Glackin secured the win for the Bannsiders, who are now just a point behind the Ports.

And Currie was frustrated by the manner of their second successive league loss, when they had the chance to further strengthen their push for a top six place.

"I'm infuriated because of the magnitude of the game, we could have created a good situation to put Coleraine out of the mix for top six," he told BBC Sport NI.

I'm hugely disappointed that is the poorest performance we have had all season. I think we just need to get back to basics, they wanted it more and had real hunger and we were the opposite."

Currie was particularly frustrated by his side's perceived lack of effort to get back in the game in the second half.

"I'm speechless, I think that second half was like something you watch in a pre-season game when a Championship club comes up against a Premiership club.

"We had no urgency about us, and it was unacceptable, we didn't show up."

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Ards manager John Bailie said that it is "surreal" for his Championship side to be in the semi-finals of the Irish Cup.

The north Down side beat Premiership Loughgall 2-0 on Saturday with goals from Michael Ruddy and Eamon Scannell helping them to victory in the quarter-final tie.

They are in the last four of the Irish Cup for the first time since 1995 and will face holders Cliftonville for a place in the final.

"It's a bit surreal, we have done really well in cup competitions in terms of performance levels when we've been tested against Premiership teams," Bailie told BBC Sport NI.

"Semi-final don't come along often for a club like Ards so it's going to be a big day."

Bailie believes Ards were worthy winners at Clandeboye Park as they set up another meeting with Cliftonville, who edged them on penalties in the County Antrim Shield earlier in the season.

"We came into the game fairly confident, not cocky but we knew we had a chance because Loughgall have been struggling," he added.

"We thoroughly deserved it in the end, to a man we were very good, everyone gave their all."

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After Dungannon Swifts' comeback 3-1 win against Carrick Rangers, BBC Sport NI caught up with Swifts goalscorer John McGovern and Carrick Rangers defender Mark Surgenor.

McGovern on the victory:

"We weren't at the races at the first half, Rodney [McAree] said that at half-time and we turned it round. We came out the second half, played well, took our chances and won the game."

On adjusting their style of play:

"Throughout the year we have got a name for ourselves of playing good football and many people don't fancy us playing on a grass pitch like here at Carrick, but it goes to show we can play a bit of football, and we can adapt. Second half we adapted really well and fought really well."

On his second goal:

"For the second one, when I chopped inside, I just thought get this on target and anything can happen, thankfully I put it near post in the corner of the net and I was overcome with emotion."

On the potential to win the Irish Cup:

"The Irish Cup is wide open for us now, but at this stage of the competition you don't take anything for granted. We said at the start of the season that if you win five games you win the Irish Cup. We have won three so there is three steps forward, but we still have two to go."

Surgenor on the defeat:

"We got the goal from playing well, Dungannon got back into the game but at half-time there was no panic. In the second half, the manner of the goals we conceded was so disheartening."

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After holders Cliftonville held on to beat Crusaders 2-1 at Seaview and book their place in the Irish Cup semi-finals, BBC Sport NI got the views of Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton and Crues manager Declan Caddell.

Jim Magilton on the win:

"Massive result, we showed some character. Crusaders threw everything at us which we expected, we had to defend for our lives, but we scored two really two goals. We could have managed the game better but to win the game is huge for us."

On the goals scored by Ryan Curran and Alex Parsons:

"Two moments of real quality, it's a wonderful header from Ryan Curran, his performance was outstanding, and I'm really pleased for him and then Alex has a wonderful left foot and it was a magnificent finish. We had to hold on, our goalkeeper made an unbelievable save and we managed to get over the line."

On retaining the Irish Cup:

"We're going all out to retain the trophy, god knows what is going to happen in the semi-final, but it is an opportunity to bring our fans back to Windsor and that is what we are going to try and do."

Declan Caddell on the defeat:

"It was a game of fine margins, we started well and Cliftonville grew into the game and got their goal. It was a sloppy goal from us, a free header into the box which was very preventable. We had a lot of momentum at the start of the second half and Cliftonville's first attack of the half, they score.

"The players rallied and had a good go, we managed to pull one back and, on another day, you score from those two or three chances you create, we haven't, so congratulations have to go to Cliftonville."

Watch highlights as Coleraine record a first home league win since November with a 2-0 victory against Portadown.

Read the report here.

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Holders Cliftonville have been drawn to face Championship side Ards in the Irish Cup semi-finals.

Championship side Bangor, who knocked out Glentoran on Friday night, will take on Dungannon Swifts in the other semi-final.

The games will be played on the weekend of the 27/28 March with venues and kick-off times still to be confirmed.

Cliftonville overcame north Belfast rivals Crusaders at Seaview to book their place in the last four of the competition for a second successive year.

Ards meanwhile saw off Premiership side Loughgall at Clandeboye and are aiming to win the trophy for the first time since 1974.

Dungannon Swifts, who have never won the Irish Cup, came from behind to beat Carrick Rangers to book their place in the semi-finals.