There were emotional scenes for Dungannon Swifts as manager Rodney McAree achieved his dream of leading his hometown club to an Irish Cup final.
McAree has already captained the Swifts to a final, the last time they were to appear in the showpiece end of season date, back in 2007 when he scored in the 2-2 draw with Linfield before they cruelly lost on penalties.
But following their hard-fought 2-0 win over Bangor on Saturday evening McAree can start preparing for another big day out in May as Dungannon's dream season continues.
"It's something I've dreamt of all my life. Obviously I'm a Dungannon Swifts lad, it's my club," McAree told BBC Radio Ulster's Sportsound programme.
"I always had an ambition that I wanted to play in an Irish Cup final with Dungannon Swifts and as soon as I started doing my coaching badges I knew that I wanted to be a manager or a head coach in an Irish Cup final and to be the head coach at Dungannon Swifts and go to an Irish Cup final on 3 May is something special, something that we'll look forward to and something that I'll take great pride in.
"Anyone involved with the Irish League wants to be in an Irish Cup final. We have a great game to look forward to. Cliftonville, we know what sort of backing they come with. There'll be a good crowd at Windsor Park.
"It's a game only two clubs in the country will be involved in and we're one of them. That's truly amazing. We'll go there and try to give a good account of ourselves and try to win it."
Kyle Owens' first half own goal and a late header from Dean Curry finally killed off a stubborn Bangor side and McAree was delighted for his captain.
"It was just reward for Dean to score the second goal, the goal that sealed our place in the final, it's truly fantastic," he said.
"I thought we controlled the game in the first half, in the second we knew that the long ball from Bangor was always going to put us under pressure with the conditions as they were."
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