Coleraine beat Swifts in thrilling final to win Irish Cup

Matthew Shevlin scored twice as Coleraine won the Irish Cup for the first time since 2018 with a 3-2 victory over 2025 winners Dungannon Swifts in a thrilling final at Windsor Park.

Shevlin opened the scoring on 19 minutes when he pounced on a defensive error from the Swifts.

Joel Cooper added a second a minute into the second half with a low finish from inside the box before Paul Doyle pulled one back for Dungannon.

But Shevlin ensured the trophy would return to the north coast as he converted from close range for a third for the Bannsiders on the hour mark despite Andy Mitchell scoring another for Dungannon.

It is the seventh time the Bannsiders have won the competition and they will now enter the Uefa Conference League at the second qualifying stage with Glentoran also qualifying for Europe as a result.

The holders started brightly and created a few good opportunities to go ahead with Sean McAllister twice calling Ryan Schofield into action.

He stung the palms of Schofield on three minutes and then forced the goalkeeper to tip an acrobatic effort over the crossbar soon after.

McAllister was involved again two minutes later as he charged down the left and slipped the ball across for Kealan Dillon, who should have done better with his prodded effort from inside the box that was straight at Schofield.

Those early chances for the Swifts sparked Coleraine into life and they threatened for the first time on 11 minutes when the ball broke for Cooper inside the box and his low effort was palmed away by Declan Dunne.

Shevlin then broke the deadlock on 19 minutes, firing home after a defensive mix-up between Dunne and Caolan Marron in attempting to clear a low cross from Lyndon Kane allowed the striker to nip in and score.

The Swifts almost responded immediately as Leo Alves connected with a deep cross from Adam Glenny with a volley that Schofield was at full stretch to turn over before Marron glanced a header onto the base of the post from the resulting corner.

Coleraine doubled their advantage a minute after the restart as Shevlin flicked the ball into the path of Cooper, who fired beyond Dunne from a tight angle.

Rodney McAree's side responded well to the setback and cut the deficit on 55 minutes as Doyle curled home from the edge of the area after being teed up by McAllister.

They were back in the game for just five minutes as Zane Okoro burst down the left and saw his low shot deflected into the path of Shevlin, who steered home.

The Swifts kept fighting and pulled another goal back on 66 minutes, with substitute Mitchell turning home from inside the area to keep this breathless final on a knife-edge, but Coleraine held on to win a first Irish Cup in eight years.

Heading into the final Shevlin, Cooper and Will Patching had scored 55% of Coleraine's goals this season - so it was fitting that two of the trio stepped up in the biggest game and when it mattered most to bring the trophy back to the north coast.

It wasn't the prettiest of the 26 goals he scored this season, but it was a typical striker's goal from Shevlin to anticipate the defensive mistake and finish coolly for the opener.

He then turned provider to nod on for Cooper, who also showed great composure to net his 26th of a fine first season with the Bannsdiers before Shevlin again pounced in the box to make sure of the win after the Swifts had threatened a fight back.

Coleraine have blown teams away in the split, but this was a much more even game and they were indebted to their goalkeeper for making a few big stops during an uncharacteristically nervy start to the game.

The win caps off a fine end to what has been a good first full season under Higgins, who was appointed a year ago today and becomes only the second manager to win the Irish Cup and FAI Cup.

He has assembled a talented squad that really clicked in the latter half of the campaign to claim second in the league, a return to Europe for the first time since 2022 and a seventh Irish Cup triumph.

Their eyes will be building on that next year as they look to win the Gibson Cup for the first time since 1974.

Dungannon, as they were last year, were underdogs coming into this final and fell short despite a spirited display.

They were ultimately left to rue some big missed chances in the opening stages of the game and a rare defensive lapse from Dunne and Marron in conceding the opener that seemed to knock them out of their stride.

Considering they had lost all five games in the split, the Swifts were much-improved and put it up to the Bannsiders.

Conceding a goal so soon after half-time dealt them a further blow but they responded well with a rocket from Doyle.

The third goal was the real killer, coming just five minutes after they had cut the deficit and when they were enjoying a spell of momentum.

Again they responded through Mitchell, but just lacked that final bit of quality to score a third and bring the game to extra time.

Like Cliftonville before them, they have fallen at the final hurdle in attempting to win the Irish Cup back-to-back, but they must now regroup for the European play-offs as they look to enjoy a second successive European campaign.