“Still the critics keep on raving. Glenavon, nothing but Glenavon….
“The Duns will never last the pace. A wee team out of the Alliance, for Goodness sake it wasn’t a race.”
It is known as one of the biggest shocks in the history of Irish League football.
For some, it’s perhaps the greatest of them all.
The Irish Cup final of 1955 pitted an all-conquering, star-studded Glenavon side against third tier side Dundela.
That season alone, Glenavon had already won three trophies and were leading the Irish League with trio Jimmy Jones, Johnny Denver and Stewart Campbell scoring a staggering 101 goals for the Lurgan Blues.
They also had the legendary Wilbur Cush, who was a Northern Ireland international, in their ranks and Maurice McVeigh, who was nicknamed ‘Twinkle Toes’ for his ability on the ball.
It should have been a formality, but few could have predicted what was to come.
Windsor Park was stunned when Bobby Ervine lobbed the underdogs from the amateur Alliance League into the lead.
Dundela were not finished there, either. Ervine netted a second with five minutes to play, and shock turned to disbelief as Jackie Greenwood secured the win with a third.
Glenavon’s challenge on all fronts came to an abrupt halt and, still to this day, it remains the most famous day in the Duns’ 130-year history.
