Newry City AFC paid their annual visit to the children’s ward of Daisy Hill hospital along with Santa recently.
They were delighted to be able to bring some Christmas cheer to children and their parents in the ward along with entertaining the nursing staff.
On behalf of the club we would like to wish all the children and all the patients a speedy recovery and we are sure Santa won’t forget them on Christmas Day.
Photographs Courtesy of Sean Donegan Photography.
Newry City Reserves welcomed Dungannon Swifts second string to the Showgrounds on Wednesday night. Having picked up a valuable away point on the road the previous week at Ballymena, Newry hoped to secure further points ahead of a really tough run of fixtures over the festive period.
The game got off to an unbelievable start with three goals in the first four minutes to put Newry 2- 1 ahead. A brace from Keith Johnston either side of a Marcio Soares strike for the visitors saw Newry race into an early lead. However they were quickly pegged back when Daniel Hughes equalised from a free-kick on the edge of the area in the tenth minute. It went downhill spectacularly after that with a further two goals from Hughes and a tap in from Caolian Coyle saw the visitors go into the break with a 5 – 2 advantage.
Half time: Newry City Reserves 2 – 5 Dungannon Swifts Reserves
Newry started the second half brightly in an attempt to salvage some pride after the late collapse in the first. TJ Hughes made it 5-3 when he rifled home from the edge of the area after a clever knock back from Keith Johnston in the 50th minute. Two minutes later it was 5-4 when Johnston saw his effort go in off the post to complete his hat-trick.
On the hour mark though, the visitors extended their lead when Daniel Hughes’ shot was well stopped by Lewis Hunter but the rebound hit the unfortunate Zach Annett who turned it into his own net. Straight from the kick off it was Newry who hit the net again when Josh Durnin raced through and tapped home after an excellent through ball from Matty Taylor. The game continued end to end for the next half hour and as Newry committed more bodies forward in an attempt to get an equaliser, they were picked off twice at the end to seal the win for the visitors
Full time: Newry City Reserves 5 – 8 Dungannon Swifts Reserves
Speaking to newrycityafc.co.uk after the match, Newry Reserves boss Ronan Casey was less than enamoured with his side’s display.
“Anybody looking at the result may think this game was a thriller but it was far from it. It was the worst team performance these lads have served up in my time here. There was a complete lack of fight, belief, energy and an unwillingness to do the dirty work that this fixture required,” blasted Casey. “Fair play to Dungannon who rolled their sleeves up on a cold and wet winter’s night and our boys should pay heed to that. If we aren’t prepared to work hard first and foremost, we will be in serious trouble for the rest of the season. We have a few new faces coming in January when the window opens and that can’t come quick enough on tonight’s showing.”
Next up for Casey’s men is successive away trips to Linfield and Glentoran in the next 10 days.
Newry City Reserves: Lewis Hunter, Leigh Crooks, Zach Annett, Jordan Mackey, Dean Morgan, Conal Delaney, Josh Durnin, Keith Johnston, Sokemeibi John, TJ Hughes, Ryan Duffy
Subs: Keelan Morgan, Matthew Taylor, Tiarnan Murphy, Niall McGivern, Adam Taylor
Tickets are now on sale for the NCAFC New Year’s Day Draw.
The prizes are as follows:
1. 4 SkyBet Championship VIP corporate tickets to any game of your choice
2. 4 corporate tickets to Newry City AFC v Linfield
3. £100 SkyBet Voucher
4. Voucher – Stix & Stones Steak House, Belfast
5. £50 Paddy Power Voucher
6. Newry City AFC Leisurewear Package
7. Bar Tab for Newry City AFc Social Club
Tickets are priced at £1 each or a book for 6 for £5. They are are available to purchase at the club shop on match days or from Decky McParland, Gary Wilson, Marty McParland or any member of the NCAFC Fundraising committee. They will also be available to buy on our online shop later this week so be sure to keep an eye out for that.
The draw will take place on New Year’s Day 2019 after the Newry City v Institute game. All tickets must be returned the date of the draw at the very latest.
Newry Reserves made the long midweek trip to Newtownards to face Ards II at Londonderry Park.
After a goalless opening 45 minutes which saw chances missed at both ends, Newry failed to take advantage of their dominance of possession in the second half and found themselves two goals in arrears after 83 minutes.
Newry skipper TJ Hughes netted directly from a free-kick to pull one back for the visitors five minutes from time, but despite a late onslaught on the Ards goal, Newry were unable to find that elusive equaliser.
Speaking to newrycityafc.co.uk shortly after the match, Newry Reserves boss Ronan Casey said: “For all our possession and control we had on that game, it counted for nothing when we weren’t able to capitalise on it. Their goalkeeper had a fairly quiet night and that tells a story in itself. The majority of the chances we had weren’t clear cut and for any that were, we seemed to make the wrong decision. We’ll have to accept that we didn’t deserve anything from the game and learn from it. We are on the road again on Saturday to Ballymena and hopefully we can right tonight’s wrongs at the Ballymena Showgrounds.”
After a lively start by the home side, Newry settled well into the game and had a great early chance to take the lead when Sokei John found himself straight through on goal after 10 minutes. With only the keeper to beat, in a one on one situation, his split second delay in taking the shot allowed centre half Gregg Parker the opportunity to get his foot in and clear the ball to safety.
Newry controlled possession well for the rest of the half, not allowing the home side to get into any particular rhythm. Chances came and went for TJ Hughes, Josh Durnin and Ryan Duffy as the half wore on but there was nothing clear cut and Brett Clydesdale in the home goal didn’t have to work particularly hard to keep his side in the game. The last chance of the first half fell to Ards’ Adam Munn who beat Jordan Mackey to a through ball from Niall Grimley. Just as he was about to strike, a brilliant piece of covering on the inside by Zach Annett saw the ball scrambled to safety, and at that the first half drew to a close.
Half time: Ards II 0 – 0 Newry Reserves
The second half started much in the same way that the first ended with Newry keeping possession for long periods but without really getting in behind the Ards rearguard. It was that lack of cutting edge that would eventually see Newry punished when a ball over the top in the 70th minute wasn’t cleared and Adam Munn ran through to coolly finish past Lewis Hunter from 10 yards, much to the delight of the home support.
This forced Newry to open up a bit more and commit more bodies into attack but as was the theme of the night, they just couldn’t seem to work the ball into areas that would likely trouble the home side. In the 82nd minute, it was two nil when Newry were caught on the counter attack and with men out of position Adam Brown raced through from just beyond the half way line to slot home.
TJ Hughes hit a late consolation directly from a free kick in the 85th minute, but the home side were able to hold on for all three points after late efforts from Tiarnan Murphy and Lee Hutchinson had called Clydesdale into action.
Full time: Ards II 2 – 1 Newry Reserves
Newry City Reserves: Lewis Hunter, Leigh Crooks, Zach Annett, Jordan Mackey, Ryan Duffy, Mark McCullough, Josh Durnin, Lee Hutchinson, Sokemeibi John, TJ Hughes (C), Kealan Morgan
Subs: James Irwin, Jervis McCaul, Tiarnan Murphy, Tiernan O’Reilly
Crusaders Reserves 3 – 0 Newry City Reserves (07/11/18)
Newry City Reserves travelled to North Belfast in the hope of continuing their recent good league form, but were brought back down to earth with a resounding thud at Seaview.
Buoyed by the inclusion of Philip Lowry, Gary Thompson and Ross Holden in midfield, the home side started the brighter of the two sides, with Newry keeper Lewis Hunter coming to the rescue twice early on with saves from close range to keep the home side at bay.
Newry struggled for much of the opening 20 minutes to get out of their own half and had Zach Annett and Jordan Mackey to thank for some great last ditch defending. The first goal seemed inevitable and it duly arrived in the 25th minute when a wonderful strike from a full 35 yards by Lowry sailed into the top corner past the despairing hand of Hunter.
By the 30th minute it was two, when Hunter’s pass out to full back Thomas McGreevey was intercepted by centre forward Lumi Kanwei who slotted past the Newry keeper, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Stung by this further setback, Newry tried hard to get back into the game and twice went close to reducing the deficit late in the first half. Firstly, in the 42nd minute, Keith Johnson’s lob over the advancing keeper landed on the roof of the net. Then on the stroke of half time Mattie Taylor saw his superb 25 yard free kick canon off the underside of the bar, before being scrambled to safety.
The second half was much better from a Newry perspective with Johnson and Ryan Duffy both seeing efforts cleared off the line as the away side chased the game. But in doing so, you always leave yourself that bit more open and in the final moments of the game Kanwei got his second of the night, getting in between Mackey and Hunter to pounce and put the game beyond Newry’s reach.
Newry City Reserves: Lewis Hunter, Leigh Crooks, Zach Annett, Jordan Mackey, Thomas McGreevy, Matthew Taylor ©, Josh Durnin, Lee Hutchinson, Keith Johnston, Mark McCullough, Ryan Duffy
Subs: Kealan Morgan, Tiernan O’Reilly, James Irwin, Jervis McCaul
Newry City Reserves 2 – 2 Cliftonville Olympic (16/11/18)
Newry City Reserves hoped to put their previous week’s disappointment behind them against a resurgent Cliftonville Olympic at the Showgrounds on Wednesday night.
Bolstered by the addition of some of the first team squad, Newry got off to the worst possible start when right from kick off, centre forward Thomas Maguire stole possession and shot past Lewis Hunter, make it 1-0 to the visitors.
The visitors were presented with a golden opportunity to double their advantage in the fifth minute when they were awarded a penalty, after Neil Mullen was adjudged to have tripped Maguire as he advanced into the box. From the resulting spot kick, Maguire duly obliged to make it 2-0.
Newry gradually began to impose themselves on the game, but their failure to convert numerous goal scoring opportunities, coupled with an inspired goalkeeping display in the Cliftonville goal by Ethan McGrath, saw the North Belfast side maintain their two goal cushion.
Cliftonville were dealt a setback in the 37th minute when midfielder Peter McKiernan was shown a straight red card for a kick on Zach Annett. With the Reds now reduced to 10 men, Newry continued to ask questions of the Cliftonville defence, and after a sustained spell of pressure, the hosts finally made the breakthrough on the stroke of half-time. Skipper TJ Hughes bundling home from close range, after a fine cross from the left by Noel Healy.
The introduction at half time of Newry substitute Sokei John for the injured Neil Mullen almost paid instant dividends, when his first time shot grazed the outside of the post in the 47th minute. This was to be a constant theme for the rest of the half, with Cliftonville doing their best to hang on to their one goal lead, whilst Newry threw all of their energies into attack.
Chances for Crooks, Durnin, Hutchinson, McArdle and Sokei John were missed and the night seemed to have an air of inevitability about it. That changed though in the 75th minute, when, after a neat interchange of play between Jimmy Walker and Kevin McArdle, the latter’s cross across the 6 yard box was slid home by Sokei John.
The pulsating second half didn’t end there as Newry went in pursuit of the winner, but credit must go to McGrath in the Reds goal, as he kept out two ferocious drives from TJ Hughes and tipped a cracking left footed effort from Kevin McArdle onto the crossbar.
Right at the final whistle Newry had the ball in the net again, but the goal was ruled out for an infringement in the build-up and the game ended all square.
Newry City Reserves: Lewis Hunter, Kevin McArdle, Noel Healy, Jordan Mackey, Neil Mullen, Mark McCullough, Josh Durnin, James Walker, TJ Hughes ©, Leigh Crooks, Zach Annett
Subs: Lee Hutchinson, Sokei John, Ryan Duffy, Jervis McCaul, Kealan Morgan
Commenting on the two games, Newry Reserves boss Ronan Casey admitted that while he was disappointed with the level of performance away to Crusaders, he was delighted with the response from the players against Cliftonville, after falling two goals behind early on.
“That was two tough games in the last seven days for us,” said Casey.
“I felt at Seaview, we didn’t give a good account of ourselves in the first half and gave ourselves too much to do to get back into it. Although from a development point of view, it was good experience for our boys to be competing with the likes of Philip Lowry and Gary Thompson, who are part of a full time professional set up and hopefully they can learn from it.
“Our most recent home game against Cliftonville had a bit of everything. There was some chaotic defending from both sides; a sending off, a multitude of missed chances, some great goalkeeping and plenty of entertainment for the neutral. A really poor start didn’t help our cause but the lads showed a great fighting spirit to patiently claw their way back into the game when it didn’t look like it was going to be our night. After being two nil down inside five minutes, we will content ourselves with a point, even though it should maybe have been all three. Full credit to Cliftonville though, who fought gallantly to the end to take something from it and my counterpart Declan O’Hara was rightly pleased with how they acquitted themselves.
“We are on our travels again next week to take on Ards and Ballymena respectively, and hopefully we can put some more points on the board.”
