Newry City secured a massive three points away to Hanover on Saturday but will certainly have suffered the wrath of manager Darren Mullen after the game having gone from cruise control leading 4-0 with fifteen minutes remaining to calling for the final whistle conceding three goals and hanging on for victory by the narrowest of margins. In the goals scored column Newry once again relied on leading marksman Neil Barr who weighed in with his third hat trick of the season which earned him another Man of the Match accolade.

Barr’s first chance to score came after only two minutes when he latched onto a Mark Patton knock down and from the edge of the box fired in a dipping volley which the Hanover keeper did well to palm over the cross bar. Newry went a goal in front on seven minutes when David Anderson surged down the right wing and whipped a dangerous cross along the six yard box which a Hanover defender in his attempt to clear deflected the ball past his own keeper.

Goal number two came five minutes later and reflected the tempo which Mullen has instilled in Newry this year. Captain Chris McMahon harassed a mistake out of the Hanover midfield, the loose ball falling into the path of Anderson who immediately looked for Patton and Barr. It was Patton who ran onto Anderson’s pass, Barr dropping behind and running around Patton who slid a clever ball into his path allowing his partner to smash a powerful shot on the run into the bottom corner of the Hanover net to double Newry’s advantage.

Newry were now attacking at will on both flanks. Paddy Mooney has had a major impact on his return to Newry City and again showed his worth linking with Gary McVicker before outpacing his marker in a race to the by line and clipping a dangerous cross to the back post which unfortunately was not anticipated by his team mates who had all attacked the near post. The same Newry men were instrumental in the next scoring opportunity. McVicker received a quick throw out from Peter Murphy and found Mooney on the half way line with his back to goal. Mooney spun his defender and slipped a pass through the Hanover defence which Barr ran onto. Now bearing down on goal with the advancing keeper to beat Barr shot early, his effort with the outside of his right foot always curling away from goal.

Towards the end of the half Hanover came a little more into the game but robust defending from Conor McCaul and Paul McElroy ensured that the Newry lead remained intact. Newrys final chance of the half fell the way of Mooney on 40 minutes. Barr controlled a clearance and found McMahon wide on the right. McMahon immediately switched the attack with a cross field pass to Anderson who slid a diagonal ball through the home defence giving Mooney a race for the ball with the advancing Hanover keeper. Although Mooney’s  pace got him to the ball first he was unfortunate to see his chip shot beat both the keeper and the crossbar to leave the half time score 2-0 to Newry.

The Newry boys secured the start they wanted to the second half when they went three goals in the lead on the 50^th minute. McMahon again started the move spraying a pass from one side of the field to the other finding Niall Crilly. Playing a one two with Jimmy Walker, Crilly made ground before finding Anderson in space wide on the right. Having found that space Anderson took his time before picking out Mooney inside the box, Mooney immediately laying the ball to Barr who had the simplest of tasks planting the ball into the net for number 3. This goal was in complete contrast to that which clinched Barr’s hat trick on the hour mark. Shane Lundy won the ball on the half way line and immediately found McVicker. Rather than going down the line McVicker spotted that Barr had roamed to a central position about thirty yards from goal. Taking the pass from McVicker Barr took a step forward and launched a missile like shot which hit the top corner of the Hanover net before the home keeper had moved.

Having won their previous three games 5-0 it seemed to those watching that a repeat was on the cards. Unfortunately the Newry players were obviously thinking along the same lines as they created and missed a series of gilt edged chances to score with a list of players guilty. And even when Hanover pulled a goal back courtesy of a penalty on 75 minutes it still looked as if Newry would score again to banish any fear of a comeback.

Against the background of wasteful finishing from the Newry players one moment of skill stood out when Mark Patton lost his defender inside the box with a sublime turn and was unlucky not to score with the resultant shot.

The tension was turned up on 80 minutes by a second Hanover goal and when their third goal followed five minutes later Newry were forced into a possession only game in a bid to secure the win to the point that even when the Hanover goalkeeper was stranded in the Newry penalty area, having come forward for a corner kick, the Newry players chose to keep possession rather than go for goal.  This proved to be the correct decision when referee Ciaran McAllister blew the final whistle with Newry a goal to the good.

Speaking after the game the Newry manager was content with the win and hoped that his team would benefit from the experience “It’s a lesson for the lads in a game that we could have won easily when we were 4-0 up. I told them after the game that we won’t be handed the league and that the performance in the final half hour simply was not acceptable. However, it’s three points and another game towards our goal of promotion.”

Newry City AFC’s next game is next Saturday, 22^nd March away to Moneyslane. As usual NC Travel Club will be running a bus to the game departing from the Stone Bridge, Newry at 13:15 hrs.

Newry City AFC: Murphy, McVicker, McElroy, McCaul, Crilly, Mooney, Walker, McMahon, Anderson, Barr, Patton, Substitutes: Edgar, Lundy, Lowry, Campbell, Martin.

“A complete team performance” was how manager Darren Mullen described Newry City’s home win against Dungannon Tigers on Saturday. Pleased that his team had played with a high tempo throughout restricting the visitors to little quality possession Mullen will know that his team must maintain these performances going into the second half of the season as they aim to capitalise on their start to the season which sees Newry sit on top of Mid Ulster Intermediate B by the narrowest of margins.

Newry pressurised from the kick off and took the lead on five minutes when a right wing cross from Niall Crilly found its way to the back post where Paddy Mooney nipped in behind his defender to prod the bouncing ball past the Dungannon keeper Luke O’Donnell and into the net to put the home side 1-0 up. Stirred by falling behind the Tigers began to get a foothold in the game but found Joel Annett and Paul McElroy unbeatable at the heart of the Newry defence. The home side doubled their advantage on 17 minutes when a long ball from goal keeper Peter Murphy was nodded on by centre forward Mark Patton into the path of David Anderson who took the ball into the box before unselfishly squaring to `Newry’s top goal scorer Neil Barr who calmly sided footed to the roof of the net from close range. Jimmy Walker gave Barr the chance to put Newry three up minutes later but Barr’s effort from the edge of the box skimmed wide of the Dungannon post. Patton was giving the Tigers central defenders a torrid time both in the air and on the ground and he again was central to goal number three. Chasing a long ball to the edge of the Tigers box Patton forced the Dungannon defender into making a loose clearance which he latched onto before playing a one two with David Anderson. Patton made himself some room to shot and curled a left foot shot to the far corner which O’Donnell spilled to the feet of the ever alert Barr who forced the ball over the line for his second goal of the day.

The second half started slowly with little in the way of excitement except for a half claim for a penalty from Newry when Barr seemed to be taken down inside the box, the referee waving away claims for a spot kick. However the wait for something was not an anti climax, the Newry fan’s patience rewarded on 65 minute’s with a picture goal from Mooney. With not much to aim for with the ball wide on the right Walker again picked out the reliable target man Patton, who even when not scoring contributes so much to the team play. From the edge of the box Patton cleverly nodded the ball down to Mooney who in a flash hit a sweet half volley which flew into the bottom corner of the Dungannon net giving O’Donnell little chance to save.

With the points now safe it was just a matter of improving goal difference and when Chris McMahons long ball was won by Anderson and he fed Barr it looked like number 5 was coming, Barr turning his marker inside out before firing his shot over the cross bar from inside the box. Dungannon continued to contest and made a few half chances which were very competently dealt with by the Newry defence and goal number five came Newry’s way on 74 minutes. Awarded a free kick thirty yards out McMahons strike hit the wall and appeared to come to nothing. McMahon however charged down the clearance the ball ricocheting to Anderson inside the Tigers box. Anderson laid the ball back to Crilly who played a deft pass into the path of Walker who let his dancing feet do the rest as he mesmerised the Dungannon defence with a few feigns and shuffles before finding the narrowest of gaps at the near post with his shot to put Newry 5-0 up. 

Newry are well into double figures for clean sheets so far this season and Murphy ensured that this game would be another when late in the game he produced a splendid save diving low to the base of his post to save a misdirected defensive header to leave the final score 5-0 to Newry. This was a fine overall performance from Newry with Murphy guarded by his defence in which Man of the Match Paul McElroy never put a foot wrong . In midfield captain McMahon worked tirelessly whilst Walker again showed his array of footballing skills and up front Patton won every ball with his compatriots Barr and Mooney each grabbing a brace of goals. Even better for Newry was the group of players on the bench all with first team experience which will certainly be called upon in the coming weeks with fixtures mounting.

Newry’s next game takes place on Saturday 15th March away to Hanover in a league fixture. Newry City Travel Club bus to the game will leave from the Stone Bridge @ 13:15hrs, as usual all are welcome aboard.

Newry City AFC: Murphy, Crilly, Annett, McElroy, McCaul, McMahon, Walker, Anderson, Mooney, Patton, Barr. Subs: Hand, Edgar, Martin, Lundy, Campbell. McLarty.

Cover Photo: Brendan Monaghan, Photos in Report: Noel Moan

We are pleased to announce that following the successful streaming of our game v Lurgan Town we will once again be partnering with local media outlet Destination Newry TV to screen tomorrow’s (Saturday 8th) home fixture v Dungannon Tigers. The game will be broadcast as live at approximately 6:00 pm (Saturday) at Newry City AFC Social Club. Destination Newry TV is also available on line and the match will later be uploaded to view on demand. Match commentators will be Newry fan Mo Ruddy with his co host to be confirmed nearer kick off.

http://www.vadio.ie/newrycityafc/newry-city-afc-vs-dungannon-tigers-8th-march-2014