Newry City bounced back to form with a comprehensive victory over Banbridge Rangers in front of a large crowd at the Showgrounds on Friday night. In need of a moral boosting victory after last week’s abandonment in Craigavon the home side produced a commanding performance in which they made the most of an early goal to dominate the form side in the league eventually running out 4-0 winners.

The early goal which paved the way for Newry came after 8 minutes. Jimmy Walker swung a left wing free kick into the box and when Chris Davison was unable to get enough into his attempted punched clearance Conor McCaul latched onto the loose ball before finding Mark Lowry who shot first time hard and low into the corner of the Rangers net to put his side a goal up. The away side had a great chance to draw level on 12 minutes when Andy Mallen whipped a high cross into the Newry box, Jerry Philip rising highest on the edge of the six yard box but was unable to direct his header under the Newry crossbar. McCaul and Lowry combined to make an excellent chance for the home side minutes later. From midway inside his own half McCaul picked out the run of Lowry with a perfect pass which the winger latched onto in stride taking the ball into the box only to be denied a goal scoring attempt by a perfectly timed tackle from Rangers defender William Frazer.

Sean McMullan who led the Newry attack all evening was the next to threaten Davison’s goal, the big man picking up a loose clearance just outside the box making room for a shot which slipped the wrong side of the far post with Davison stranded. McCaul however was not to be denied and was central in the goal on the half hour mark which Newrys play had deserved. Once more winning a tackle inside his own half McCaul, who oozed class all evening, strode forward with the ball skipping past a couple of Rangers players before laying the ball off to Walker. Walker in turn spotted the run of Chris Fay and slipped the ball through the Banbridge defence which the winger got to before the advancing Davison to poke the ball past the keeper and into the net to double his side’s advantage. The same player had a great chance to put Newry further ahead on the stroke of half time when a long kick out from Peter Murphy was misjudged by the Rangers defence leaving Fay with a run on the Banbridge goal. With the option of passing to the unmarked Lowry, Fay chose to shoot his effort saved by Davison with the ensuing goalmouth scramble petering out to leave the half time score 2-0 to Newry.

The second half started slowly only coming to life in a five minute period either side of the hour mark during which Newry scored two goals to seal the win. On 58 minutes Murphy picked out Lowry on the half way line with an inch perfect kick out, Lowry played a give and go with Chris McMahon before running at the Rangers defence and laying the ball into the path of McMullan who sped past his marker before hitting in a low shot which Davison blocked with his legs, the ball spinning up into the air to the back post where Fay reacted first to nod home his second goal of the evening. And goal number four soon followed, Fay again involved winning the ball inside his own half before spraying the ball wide to Lowry. With the whole of the Banbridge half open for him and only one defender to beat Lowry made some ground before crossing to McMullan arriving inside the box, McMullan using all his experience to round Davison and roll the ball into the empty net to put Newry 4-0 up.

Rangers tried to get back into the game and were twice denied by goal line clearances by Niall Crilly first from a Chris Chambers header from a corner and later when the Newry man swept up behind his goal keeper Murphy after he was beaten by a Jonny Porter effort. These chances however sandwiched an attack which should have ended in Newrys 5th goal of the night. Rian Hand played a long pass up field to Newry’s Man of the Match McMullan who showed great skill to control the ball on his chest and back heel it into the path of Neil Barr. Barr immediately helped it into the box to Fay who was chopped down from behind, referee Gerry Murray who had controlled the game in his usual calm and friendly manner, pointing straight to the spot. With two goals already in the bag and the match virtually over Newry allowed Fay the chance of his hat trick. But having won the chance himself Fay was unable to get the better of former Newry keeper Davison who got down quickly to his left to push Fays effort around his post for a corner.

And so ended a very pleasing evening for all connected with Newry with manager Darren Mullen happy with both the team play and the result ”This was a very good performance from start to finish with the final score certainly not flattering us. Whilst I’ve stated in previous weeks our performances haven’t been good enough we are a better team than we have been showing but we needed to start proving that. We showed our intent from the first whistle and were dominant throughout. Recent games against Banbridge Rangers haven’t been easy and tonight we had to match them for effort as well as playing the good football we are capable off. Thankfully we took enough of the chances we created and while we could have scored more a four goal win against any team above you in the league is always welcome. The players have now set themselves a high standard and we will need to maintain that in the cup next week against Tandragee.

Photographs courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.

Newry City AFC would like to thank our partner broadcaster Destination Newry for the full coverage of the game which is available to watch at http://destinationnewry.com/find-previous-programme/newry-city-afc/1516/

Also thanks to Mickey Cummins for the video clips of Sean McMullans goal celebration and an interview with Newry Manager Darren Mullen. Links below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By4nZfrXgqo

Newry City team: Murphy, Crilly, R.Hand, McCaul, S.Hand, Patton, Walker, McMahon, Lowry, McMullan, Fay. Subs: Barr, Durnin, McConnell, O’Connor, Curran.

A match which started off so well but ended with another three points dropped away from home will be how Newry City look back at Saturdays defeat at Banbridge Rangers. Newry manager Darren Mullen can take some positives from a game which his side dominated for the first half hour, albeit aided by the elements, and had they converted another of the chances made then the result might have been different. That however has been the story of Newrys season thus far and they were punished by a Banbridge side who managed to score against the strong wind which set them up for a second half during which the wind and rain if anything got worse, Rangers determination helping them to see out a 3-1 win.

Although Adam Beattie had the first attempt on goal of the day for Rangers after three minutes it was Newry who played all the early football and they could have gone ahead moments later when Chris McMahon picked out centre forward Mark Patton who nodded the ball down into the path of Sean Hand, the Dundalk man unable to get enough into his shot to test Chris Davison in the Rangers goal. With the wind at their back it was sustained Newry pressure McMahon again setting up the next scoring chance, this time for Jimmy Walker who with his back to goal swivelled on the spot only to see his half volley sail over Davison’s crossbar.

The pressure was building with Barr the next to test Davison having benefited from another Patton lay off. The opening goal duly arrived after 18 minutes when referee Gerry Murray who had another good afternoons officiating, awarded Newry a free on the edge of the box after Barr was taken down. From a central position it was Walker who stepped up to curl the free kick to the top corner of the Banbridge net despite Davison’s best efforts.

One goal was never going to be enough and Newry threatened again on 25 minutes when David O’Connor pushed forward into the Banbridge half before releasing debutant Dean McConnell on the Newry’s left, the winger stepping inside before firing in a low show which narrowly missed the base of the Banbridge post with Davison beaten. With Newry growing increasingly frustrated Rangers grabbed that elusive goal against the elements after 37 minutes. Faced with a long throw in from the left wing Newry could have been forgiven that the danger had passed when Peter Murphy produced an excellent reflex save to push Jonathan O’Neills powerful header around his post. With the resulting corner cleared out of the box the Newry players attempted to push out of defence alas allowing O’Neill to ghost in at the back post to connect with a curling cross this time giving Murphy no chance with his header to level the scores at half time.

The second half was a story of chances missed and chances taken. Like the first half rangers had the first opportunity to score Andy Mallen slipping a through ball for Johnny Porter who squared up with Murphy, the Newry keeper coming out on top to keep the sides level. Newry hit back, the ball bobbling around the box before looking to have landed on Pattons lap, the big man denied by Gregg who cleared with the striker in the act of shooting. Newry had the bit between their teeth at this stage looked sure to score on the hour mark when a corner was recycled into the Banbridge box to Barr who connected perfectly only to see his effort blocked by some resolute Rangers defending.

Defensive bravery was rewarded on 70 minutes when a long ball into the Newry box was only partially cleared to Adam Beattie who crashed the ball into the Newry net to put Banbridge a goal up. And minutes later the Mallens combined with Stuart looking sure to score only to be denied by some excellent covering defending by Niall Crilly who headed the ball from the Newry goal line. Buoyed by this reprieve Newry mounted some sustained pressure on the Rangers goal, Crilly moving forward to create two opportunities both of which went begging. The first came on 75 minutes when he crossed from the right wing to Barr who had his shot blocked, Crilly then repeated the move minutes later firing in a low ball which beat everyone to go harmlessly wide.

And as so often happened for Newry this season they were made to pay for these misses when Banbridge attacked with ten minutes left, a crossed ball fell perfectly for Stuart Mallen who blasted an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the Newry net to seal the points for the home side.

Newry manager Darren Mullen was reflective after the game “There’s no doubt we are in a hole at the minute but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We aren’t having any luck in front of goal and could have been a couple up today. Basic errors are costing us dearly. Hard work is what’s need and as a group that’s what we will do. We are not nearly as bad as recent results suggest but it’s only through perseverance and belief in what we are trying to that we will come through this. If we can do that and finish the season in the right manner then as a group we will be all the better for it.”

Next up, Newry now travel to AFC Craigavon (Saturday 7^th March). Newry City Travel Club will be running a bus departing from the Stonebridge from 12.45 sharp. All are welcome.

Newry City AFC Team: Murphy, Crilly, McCaul, O’Connor, Curran, Hand, McConnell, Walker, McMahon, Patton, Barr. Subs: Edgar, Johnson, McMullan, Fay.

Away form has let Newry City down this season with Saturday’s defeat at Broomhill their fourth straight league loss on the road, a stat which wasn’t lost on manager Darren Mullen after Saturdays match “Our away form has been bad to say the least this season and this result highlights a lot of our problems. The movement, decision making and basic quality was terrible in the first half. The second half was better and even when down to ten men we were the more threatening team. That said, we haven’t been good enough and this season has been a steep learning curve for us as a group. We will keep giving everything for the remainder of our games and use the positives and the mistakes as a learning tool and motivation for next year”

As for the game itself Newry had enough chances to win any game but at the other end relied on Peter Murphy who made a number of top drawer stops to keep his side involved right to the final whistle.

Starting off with two wingers making the bullets for centre forward Sean McMullan Newry were always going to make chances although as they have so often found on their travels this season the tight confines of some pitches doesn’t lend itself to their style of football. For the first half hour there was only one team in it with Newry having all the chances, the first coming in the fifth minute when a long David O’Connor pass beat the home defence allowing Mark Lowry to run onto the ball, the winger holding play up before finding McMullan who fired his shot into the side netting. McMullan was unfortunate not to score on the quarter hour mark when Paul Donegan rose highest at the back post to nod another O’Connor cross back across goal, McMullan the first to latch onto the loose ball but unluckly to see Steven McHugh dive low to his near post to save. With Newry in control Murphy’s only contribution during that first half hour was to deal with long high balls. However that changed on the 30 minute mark when a poor ball out of defence put the Newry midfield in trouble, the loose ball intercepted by Broomhill who broke forward, the ball initially falling for Chris McElroy who’s shot from inside the box was saved by Murphy who parried it up in the air to the edge of the small box from where McElroy headed it towards goal this time to be denied by the covering O’Connor who was able to stop the ball from going over the line but couldn’t get enough on his clearance to stop Daniel Rayner who was following up from smashing the ball to the back of the Newry net to put Broomhill a goal up.

Newry had a chance to equalize with minutes to go before the half when Paul Donegan strode out of defence with the ball skipping past a few challenges before spreading the ball wide to Gary Crummy who steadied himself before firing a left foot shot across goal unfortunately missing the far post by inches.

Newry picked up where they left off in the second half with Graeme Edgar linking with Chris McMahon to create an early chance for Mark Lowry who forced a diving save from McHugh in the home goal. Newry made some changes on the hour mark in a bid to bring a new impetus to their attack and the change almost bore instant fruit when Conor McCaul took the ball out of defence before finding the recently introduced Chris Fay wide on the right, Fay whipping a wicked cross across the face of goal just out of reach of fellow substitute Neil Barr arriving at the back post.

Newry suffered yet another self inflicted wound on 65 minutes when a pass out of defence was intercepted again by Broomhill, the ball again falling to McElroy who was fouled as he bore down on goal. While a red card may have been the correct decision, although Newry had numbers in defence, all present were mystified when the referee showed the card to Donegan who clearly was not involved in the tackle. Now reduced to 10 men Newry still had to deal with a free kick on the edge of their box, the visiting support relieved to see Murphy make an excellent save low to his right from Jason Harpers strike.

Newry threw everything into attack playing with only three at the back. They almost grabbed the equalizer with 15 minutes left when Lowry helped a corner across the box where it was met at the back post by Barr with a back heeled effort which was scrambled off the goal line.

Playing with three at the back leaves gaps and the game was almost put out of Newrys reach on 78 minutes when a Broomhill attack ended with Harper finding himself with space for a shot from the edge of the box bringing yet another excellent save from Murphy.

Newry went straight back on the attack, Fay swinging in a high cross which Ian Curran met with a powerful header which skimmed the crossbar. Curran was to have the next Newry attempt. McMahon lobbed a ball into the box to Mark Patton who had pushed up from his midfield role, Patton rolling the ball back to the edge of the area where Curran met it with a first time shot which McHugh grabbed at the second attempt. And Newry realized the game was up in the final minute when McMahon won a header in the middle of the field which landed with Barr on the edge of the box, Barr juggling the ball to make room before firing in a dipping volley which HcHugh dived low to save, pushing the ball up and off his crossbar rebounding to Fay who blasted over.

Newry City AFC: Murphy, Edgar, O’Connor, McCaul, Donegan, Smyrginas, Patton, McMahon, Lowry, McMullan, Crummy Subs: Barr, Fay, Curran, McConnell

Newrys next match is on Saturday 28th February away to Banbridge Rangers. Supporter’s bus will leave Stonebridge at 1:15pm.

Newry City AFC were pleased to welcome former Premiership Star David Bentley to the Showgrounds this morning.

During his visit he took part in filming for ‘The Toughest Trade’ in which he co stars with with Armagh GAA player Aaron Kernan,  Kilkenny hurling star Jackie Tyrell and Baseball player Brian Schneider.

For the show the sportsmen swap roles for a week to compare the life of amateur GAA players with professional athletes.

The show which is sponsored by AIB will be aired on 12th March at 10pm on TV3.

Photographs courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.

Following last week’s tame defeat to local rivals Camlough Rovers Newry City manager Darren Mullen would have demanded a reaction from his players in Saturday’s home game against basement side Crewe at the Newry Showgrounds on Saturday. And whilst the Newry side never looked like repeating their five goal margin of victory achieved earlier in the season against Crewe Mullen was happy to get back to winning ways “Whilst it wasn’t our best performance it is a welcome three points after last week’s disappointing result. We needed a response and there’s no better way to do that than to win your next game. Crewe are a completely different side from the one we beat earlier in the year and were much better organised. If there’s one thing we need to learn from this season it’s patience and at half time the players were told not to panic and we would get our chances. That proved to be the case early in the second half and whilst we didn’t kick on we were never really threatened”.

That patience was needed from Newry on Saturday after a first half where they dominated possession but were unable to break down a robust Crewe defence. Indeed goal chances for the entire first half were limited to one clear chance for each side. Newrys came after a quarter of an hour. Chris McMahon won a crunching tackle in midfield before finding Paulis Smaryginas in space on the right side of the box, his first time shot across the Crewe goal saved at the second attempt by keeper Jamie Quinn. Crewe’s only chance of the half came on 20 minutes after a long ball up the middle was misjudged by the Newry defence, Conor McCaul’s pace allowing him to make up the ground to deflect Declan O’Connor’s shot for a corner.

The game swung Newrys way on 52 minutes. David O’Connor hit a long free kick into the penalty box for which Mark Patton rose highest to bullet a header back into the top corner of the Crewe net to put his side a goal up. Gary Crummy was having a great game on the Newry left wing taking every opportunity to run at his marker. Equally Mark Lowry was showing up well on the right and of the two teams Newry looked the more likely to score again.

The next chance however came from an unusual source, Paul Donegan remaining in an advanced position after a corner, the centre back showing great skill to recover the crossed ball outside the box before picking out Sean McMullan with a cross which the centre forward caught perfectly on the volley bringing a fine save from Quinn. Newry continued to probe, Lowry and McMullan combining to release Crummy at the back post, the young striker unfortunately unable to get the power needed in his shot to beat Quinn. The final scoring chance of the game was made by the pace and trickery of Newry’s best player on the day. Picking the ball up midway inside the Crewe half Crummy jinked past his marker taking the ball inside the box before finding McMullan who in turn laid the ball wide to Lowry, his shot skimming the top of the Crewe bar with Quinn beaten. So on the score board a narrow win for the home side but none the less important as pointed out by manager Mullen “The players know that the season is far from over and we’ll be pushing to ensure that they give 100% in every game until the end of the season. Young Gary Crummy was terrific today and he knows that he has to keep working and training hard to fulfil his potential. Hopefully we will now put a winning run together and see where that takes us.”

Newry City AFC Team: Murphy, Edgar, McCaul, Donegan, O’Connor, Patton, Smyrginas, McMahon, McMullan, Lowry, Crummy. Subs: Crilly (Smyrginas), Barr, Fay, Johnston.

Next Saturday, 21^st February NCAFC travel to Broomhill. The supporters bus will be departing from the Stonebridge at 1pm sharp. All are welcome to come along and show your local club the support they deserve!!