The 1956/57 season was an exciting period for The Town when the club qualified to participate in The Irish Cup for the first time since 1939/40 by reaching the semi final stage of The Irish Intermediate Cup.

Newry had beaten Banbridge Town, Glentoran 2nds, and Dunmurry Rec on their way to meeting Linfield Swifts in the semi final. But undoubtedly Newry’s best display of the season came in the 3rd Rd of the competition against a much fancied Glentoran 2nds at Windsor Park.

Glentoran 2nds 0 – 3 Newry Town  

Glentoran forced the pace at the start and The Town’s defence was kept busy, however Newry gradually settled down and Glens keeper Boat got down to deflect a strong drive from from Pat Curtis. At the other end Pa Mooney held a real thunderbolt from the lurking Trevor Thompson.

Newry continued to attack, with Stevie Mallon and Pat Curtis combining brilliantly but Boat advanced quickly to save from the latter. Then Truesdale, The Glens centre, half robbed Jimmy Edgar as he was about to shoot.

The Glens broke away as Leeman created an opening for Fraser to Blast into the net, but fortunately for The Town the score was ruled out for offside.

Half Time: Scoreless

Newry went all out for a goal at the beginning of the second half and the pace was very fast. There was little between the teams but The Town seemed more dangerous in attack and this was proved after 15 minutes of the half when Edgar bulldozed his way through and Curtis netted brilliantly from an acute angle – much to the delight of the big Town support.

Newry piled on the pressure and Billy Hewitt beat three defenders in an amazing dribble but Gerry Robinson shot wide from close range. In a retaliatory Glentoran raid, Stanley Kidd saved the situation with a terrific block but was injured in the process and had to go off for several minutes to receive treatment.

The excitement was mounting as both sides attacked in turn but Newry, after 30 minutes of the half, got a crucial second goal when the hard working Stevie Mallon put Pat Curtis through to score.

The Town were now on top and Billy Hewitt rammed in a third goal to complete a great performance.

Newry Town: Pa Mooney, Stanley Kidd, Davy Jamison, Billy Flanagan, Jackie Bowers, Alec Reid, Pat Curtis, Stevie Mallon, Jimmy Edgar, Gerry Robinson, and Billy Hewitt.

Verdict

This was a magnificent performance from The Town. Of the players in Saturday’s game, all gave their best. Pa Mooney was very safe in goal. Stanley Kidd, after a rest, returned to his best form. Davy Jamison was sound at left back. Billy Flanagan was a constructive half back and he received great support from Alec Reid who was making a welcome reappearance after injury. Jackie Bowers, the Newry Captain played the game of his life at centre half blotting out the ever dangerous Trevor Thompson who had been scoring goals by hat-tricks every Saturday. Pat Curtis at outside right was very fast and direct. His two goals were brilliant efforts. Stevie Mallon put in a lot of work both in defence and attack as did Gerry Robinson. Jimmy Edgar was well held at centre forward but his constant roaming did a lot to unsettle the Glens defence and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet. Billy Hewitt played his best ever game for Newry and his dribbling skills were superb.