Three picture book goals and three points was the Newry City return from Saturdays Mid Ulster League tie at The Showgrounds against Seapatrick. However, that does not tell the full story of a match in which Seapatrick defended stoutly obviously determined not to suffer a repeat of last Saturdays four goal cup defeat by Newry.

The first twenty minutes of the game saw incessant Newry pressure with half chances falling to Brilly, McMahon and Crilly but very much against the run of play it was Seapatrick who almost opened the scoring. With little threat to the Newry goal and the ball safely at the feet of Peter Murphy, a misplaced short kick out was intercepted by a Seapatrick player now with a free run on goal. With Murphy stranded it looked like Seapatrick only had to get the shot on target to score. However that was not allowing for the excellence of Murphy who got back into position and twisted in mid air as he dived to get a strong hand to the shot deflecting it on to the cross bar also benefiting from a piece of good fortune as the rebound landed within his reach.

The home side made the most of this reprieve going ahead on the hour mark with a goal made by their captain Chris McMahon. Picking up possession inside his own half McMahon drove at the Seapatrick defence beating tackles as he brought the ball to the end line. Composure required McMahon cut back inside before picking out the run of Aaron Brilly across the six yard line, Brilly meeting the cross with a powerful first time shot which crashed to the back of the Seapatrick net.

Similar to many games this season Newry kicked on after the half time break to completely dominate the second period. Straight after the break Niall Crilly took the ball out of defence before finding Mark Patton inside the box. Tightly marked Patton back heeled the ball into the path of Jimmy Walker who was unfortunate to see his shot deflected over the bar. Newry continued to press for the elusive second goal which looked like it would not come due to a combination of some poor final passes, wasteful finishing and a little bit of bad luck especially when Paul Donegan ran from the back post to meet a Walker corner on the penalty spot, his first time volley smacking into the crossbar with the Seapatrick keeper motionless. Pressure eventually told on 80 minutes with a goal made and scored by Man of the Match Walker. Having stifled another Newry attack Seapatrick attempted to walk the ball out of defence. Walker won the ball back and made himself some space before curling his shot from 30 yards out into the far top corner of the Seapatrick net to put Newry 2-0 up. Good as this goal was better was to come. In a one touch passing movement involving half the team beginning with Crilly in his corner back position and ending with Lowry wide on the right wing Newry moved from defence to attack in a matter of moments. Lowry still had much to do to threaten the Seapatrick goal but did so in a flash flicking the ball with the inside of his right foot onto his left which he used to smash a curling shot from 35 yards into the same top corner as Walker hit moments earlier for an early contender for goal of the season.

Newry manager Darren Mullen was happy to have secured maximum points from the game “We must have had 80% possession in this game but when you are only a single goal in the lead there is always the danger of a breakaway. The players were told before the game to be patient and that eventually paid off with three very good goals. That’s now three clean sheets and seven victories in a row and most importantly three league points. But it’s still very early days and we now concentrate on Tuesdays Mid Ulster Cup match against Armagh.”

Don’t forget this match will be on http://www.vadio.ie/newrycityafc at 9pm tonight!!

Newry City AFC: Murphy, Crilly, Edgar, Moan, Donegan, Kearns, McMahon, Walker, Brilly, Patton, Lowry Subs: McMullan, Barr, McCaul, O’Connor, Fay, Curran,

Newry’s next game is on Tuesday 28^th Oct away to Armagh City in the Mid Ulster Cup. Newry then travel on the 1^st November to play Crewe Utd, kick off 2:15pm. Newry City travel club bus will leave the Stone Bridge for this game at 12:45pm.

We are pleased to announce that following the successful streaming of our games last season we will once again be partnering with local media outlet Destination Newry TV to screen this weekends (Saturday 25th) home fixture v Seapatrick FC. The game will be broadcast as live at approximately 9:00 pm on Monday night on Newry City AFC TV which is available via the Roku Box or Destination Newry TV. It will also be available free and on demand any time after the first screening. Match commentators will be Newry Chairman Martin McLoughlin and Player Joe Campbell.

For the second time this season Newry City beat Seapatrick 4-0, the latest win coming on Saturday at Havelock Park when with another solid performance Newry made it six wins in a row as they progressed into the last eight of the Mid Ulster Premier Cup.

Although on top from the kick off it took Newry until the 20^th minute to create a goal scoring chance, Mark Lowry firing a snapshot wide having been set up by Mark Patton. Lowry made amends on the half hour mark to open the scoring.  Aarron Brilly found Jimmy Walker with a quick throw in. Walker made ground to the edge of the area before firing in a low shot which Paul McGrath in the Seapatrick goal could not hold, the speedy Lowry the first to react to the loose ball which he tapped into the empty net.

Seapatrick had a great chance to equalize minutes later when McBurney nodded on a long ball which McEvoy latched onto for a clear run on the Newry goal. With Peter Murphy advancing from his line McEvoy chose to shoot from outside the box forcing Murphy to dive full length to his left to deflect the ball around the post for a spectacular save.

Newrys reply was decisive. Playing with the aid of a strong wind Walker whipped in a corner which centre back Paul Donegan met at the front post to head his second goal in successive games. And Walker almost wrapped the game up on the stroke of half time when his wind assisted free kick from 30 yards out was tipped over the bar by McGrath.

Five minutes into the second half Murphy had to come to Newrys rescue once more when a defensive lapse gave McBurney an opening inside the Newry six yard box, Murphy producing an excellent reaction save to maintain the Newry lead.

Newry got their third goal on 65 minutes. Chris McMahon won the ball in a tackle inside his own half and made ground before sliding a pass between the Seapatrick central defenders. Patton had work to do but the big man showed determination first to win the race for the ball and then had the composure to draw the Seapatrick keeper from his line before shooting across him and into the far corner of the net to put Newry 3-0 up.

And the big striker wasn’t finished yet as he scored a very similar goal for number four to finish the game. This time Graeme Edgar drilled a low pass from inside his own half which Patton latched onto midway inside the Seapatrick half. Again he left his markers for dead as he bore down on McGrath, this time choosing to deftly take the ball round the keeper before planting his shot to the back of the net to make the final score 4-0 to Newry.

Newry manager Darren Mullen was clearly content with his team after the match “I told the players that we need to continue winning, whether it’s a cup or league game and that’s exactly what we did. We were very rarely troubled and when they did get through Peter made two very good saves. Winning becomes a habit and the players are all working hard to keep their place in the squad. Mark Patton came in today and scored two after Sean McMullan got a hat trick during the week, so it gives us a good selection head ache which is replicated right through the team. We are back in league action next week against the same opposition as today and we will again work hard and take nothing for granted”

Newry City AFC: Murphy, Crilly, Edgar, Donegan, Moan, Kearns, McMahon, Walker, Brilly, Patton, Lowry Subs: McMullan, Durnin, O’Connor.

Newrys next game will be a Mid Ulster League fixture at the Showgrounds on Saturday 25^th October against Seapatrick kick off 2:15pm. Newry will then travel on Tuesday 28^th October to Holm Park in Armagh for a Mid Ulster Cup fixture against Armagh City Kick Off 7:45pm

Photograph courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.

Another slow start but in the end a comprehensive victory for Newry City in Tuesday night’s Mid Ulster Cup tie against Dromore Amateurs. The game will be remembered for a sparkling hat trick from veteran Sean McMullan and the competitive debut of Kevin Moan and Gary Crummy, both of whom look like good additions to the first team squad.

For the first half hour of the game Newry had much of the possession but did not threaten the Dromore goal except for an Aaron Brilly snapshot from outside the box after he was set up Sean McMullan. For all Newry’s tidy passing it took a good old fashioned hard block tackle from youngster Crummy to create the first goal. Having won the tackle Crummy played the ball into the feet of McMullan on the edge of the Dromore box. The big man took a step to his left and fired a low left foot shot back across the keeper and into the corner of the net to put Newry into the lead. Newry had made six changes for this game, one of them being Ian Curran starting at left back. Curran displayed his array of skills soon after the opening goal when he sprayed a diagonal ball which landed perfectly for Jimmy Walker to volley first time from the corner of the six yard box, his effort flashing wide of the far post with the Dromore keeper beaten. The home side doubled their advantage on 40 minutes. Kenny Kearns won the ball inside his own half and immediately released Walker. The Newry playmaker drilled a long pass along the ground which the Dromore right back Timmy Stewart attempted to intercept. McMullan gambled on Stewart missing the ball and when he did the big man had only one Dromore defender to beat which he did easily with a drop of his right shoulder before moving the ball onto his trusty left foot and blasting the ball high into the net to put Newry 2-0 up. The home side had a great chance for number three on the stroke of half time. Chris McMahon split the Dromore defence with an incisive pass giving Brilly a one on one with Thompson in the Dromore goal, a battle which the keeper won to leave the half time score 2-0 in Newrys favour.

Immediately after the break in a rare break away Dromore looked all set to half the deficit only for Peter Murphy to sprint from his line to clear the danger to the Newry goal.

And from here on it was one way traffic as Newry dominated the rest of the game. With Kearns and McMahon holding the middle of the field Walker had the freedom of the park. On 50 minutes he picked the ball up in the centre of the field and after playing one twos with McMullan found himself inside the box with the advancing keeper to beat. Walker pitched his shot into the air and although unfortunate to see it hit the cross bar Crummy was alert to react first to the rebound to slot home his first senior goal for Newry. On the hour mark McMullan completed his hat trick with the best goal of the night.  Walker is always on the alert for something different. Standing over a free kick outside the Dromore box Walker spotted McMullan moving round the back of the last defender and lofted in a pass which landed perfectly for McMullan who did not have to break stride as he volleyed past Thompson to put Newry 4-0 up. The big man was also involved in goal number 5 as he got his head to a long Paul Donegan pass to nod the ball down to Brilly who was chopped down as he brought the ball into the Dromore penalty box. When the referee pointed to the spot Donegan grabbed the chance to slot the penalty low and hard past Thompson. Newry’s final goal of the night was started and finished by Walker. On the ball again in the middle of the field Walker skipped around a challenge or two before laying the ball wide to Keith Johnston. Continuing his run Walker was then on hand inside the box to take the return pass and shoot past Thomson to make the final score 6-0 to Newry.

On a night when Newry switched their team around with a bench full of first team players waiting to be introduced they were best served by Walker and Crummy with McMullan just about sealing the Man of the Match award with that hat trick.

Newry manager Darren Mullen, now faced with some tricky selection decisions, was clearly pleased to be faced with that problem “That was a game we never looked troubled in but for all our possession it took a while to get the first goal. Once that went in we settled a bit and controlled the rest of the game. The performance and the result are clearly pleasing as we made six changes for the game from Saturday’s team. That’s shows the strength in depth we have in the squad with more players shortly due back from injury. Kevin Moan and Gary Crummy both had excellent games on their full debut and I’m sure Gary won’t forget his first Newry goal.

Newry City AFC: Murphy, Edgar, Curran, Donegan, Moan, Walker, Kearns, McMahon, McMullan, Brilly, Crummy, Subs: Johnston, Lowry, Patton, Crilly, Quinn, Barr.