Newry City sit top of Mid Ulster Intermediate B at Christmas thanks to second half goals from their twin strikers Mark Patton and Peter Thompson which secured the points at a wet and windy Laurelvale. Both scorers will accept however that it was the introduction of Mark Lowry shortly after the break which turned the game in Newry’s favour.

All the action in the game came after a first half which was instantly forgettable bar a miss by the Newry goal scorer Thompson who when presented with the ball by his partner Patton and with only the keeper to beat from six yards out tried to place his shot in the bottom corner, the ball alas slipping the wrong side of the post. For the rest of the half Newry failed to make the most of the strong wind in their favour barely registering a shot at the home keeper.

The first chance of the second half came the way of Laurelvale on 48 minutes when a home corner was cleared to the edge of the box from where a snap shot through the crowded Newry penalty area was cleared off the goal line by Gary McVicker.

Against the wind Newry soon settled into the passing football which has seen them win nine from eleven league games played so far. On the hour mark they introduced Mark Lowry on the right and the speedy winger immediately had a chance to score when he was released by a defence splitting ball from Chris McMahon. With a run on goal from 30 yards Lowry shot from the edge of the box, the ball flying low and wide of the far post. Better was soon to come. Niall Crilly found Patton almost on the bye line with a long throw in. Patton laid the ball back to Crilly who crossed first time to the penalty spot where Thompson rose majestically to bullet a header to the back of the net to redeem his earlier miss.

The Newry lead did not last long however as the home side equalized on 72 minutes with a goal that owed much to the weather. With no other avenues open and the ball thirty yards from goal the home midfielder fired in a low shot which Newry goalkeeper Peter Murphy looked to have covered only for the wind aided shot to take a nasty skip of the wet turf just in front of the keeper to fly over his shoulder into the net to even up the score.

Newry piled on the pressure in a bid to regain the lead but when, with the clock running out, Lowry’s cross found Patton in the box the ball stuck on the muddy surface between the strikers’ feet and he scuffed his shot wide it looked as if the goal would not come. However Patton’s perseverance paid off on 89 minutes. Niall Crilly slid a ball through the defence which Lowry latched on to, first skipping round a chasing defender and then round the advancing keeper before crossing along the six yard box where Patton was waiting at the back post to smash home the winning goal.

Injury time was all about the referee who first sent of a Laurelvale player who spoke out of turn and then brandished a red card at Newry’s Conor McCaul for what at worst was a foul but by no means a red card offence.

In a game which was dictated by the elements best for Newry were the engine room players McCaul and McMahon and whilst Patton and Thompson battled throughout for every ball Man of the Match Mark Lowry added that little extra pace and inventiveness which won the points.

Newry City AFC Team: Murphy, Crilly, McElroy, Annett, McVicker, McMahon, Campbell, McCaul, Lundy, Patton, Thompson. Subs: Walker (McVicker), Lowry (Campbell) , Martin, Edgar, Anderson.

Newry City’s Irish Cup run came to an end on Saturday at a cold and blustery Larne when they were beaten 4-1 by Amateur League side Crumlin Star. The Newry side started the game slowly and were caught cold inside five minutes when a Newry attack broke down inside the Crumlin half and the home team broke at speed with five quick passes moving play into the Newry box before the ball was slotted into the net to put Crumlin one goal up.

The rest of the half was much more even with both teams having their share of possession without really threatening to score.

Newry started the second half much better than the first and almost equalized straight from the kick off with Chris McMahon and Graeme Edgar combining to release Niall Crilly who’s wind aided cross come shot had the Star keeper in all sorts of trouble as he stretched to fingertip the ball onto the cross bar, the rebound falling to a defender to clear.

Newry were now on the ascendancy and Crilly was again involved in Newry’s second good chance of the half when he found Jimmy Walker in space just outside the Crumlin box. Walker rolled his pass to centre forward Mark Patton who with his back to goal back heeled a defence splitting pass to Walker who had continued his run and now had only the home keeper to beat. Unfortunately Walkers low shot crashed into the keepers legs and rebounded to safety.

It was now Crumlin’s turn to regroup and this they did in style with two quick goals, the second of which was scored by Newry City’s ex Irish League player Francis Murphy, to put the home team 3-0 up.

Newry refused throw in the towel with manager Darren Mullen making substitutions to add some new impetus. This bore dividends within minutes when two of those newly added players combined to put Newry back in the game. Ian Curran found Neil Barr with a long throw in. Barr controlled the ball with his back to goal before spinning and unleashing a dipping shot from 25 yards out which flew into the top corner of the Crumlin net before the keeper had moved. Newry’s attempt at a comeback nearly got better two minutes later when the Crumlin keeper had to dive full length to the base of his post to save a shot from McMahon. However any hopes of a comeback were extinguished with five minutes left when Murphy’s second goal restored Crumlin’s three goal advantage which was more than a little harsh on Newry who competed well throughout with their more experienced opponents.

Newry City AFC Man of the Match: Mark Patton

Newry resume their league campaign on Saturday 14^th December away to Laurelvale at 2pm. Newry City AFC Travel Club bus will be departing from the Stonebridge at 1pm sharp, all are welcome!.

Newry City AFC Team: Murphy, Crilly, Anderson, Annett, McCaul, Edgar, McMahon, McElroy, Patton, Walker, Lundy. Subs: Curran, Martin, Barr, Campbell, Thompson, McVicker.

Newry City shared the spoils away to St Mary’s in Saturday’s league clash to stay top of the table and will look back at the match with mixed emotions having conceded an injury time equalizer. However, after a game of many missed chances by both sides a draw was probably the correct result and at the end of the season Saturday’s point may prove very useful to the Newry side.

Newry opened the scoring on the half hour mark with a beautifully constructed goal. David Anderson picked the ball up in his left back position and made ground to mid way inside the St Mary’s half before finding Shane Lundy wide on the left. Lundy took a touch to beat his defender and delivered a pin point cross to the penalty spot where Mark Patton rose between two defenders to bullet a header to the back of the net to put Newry 1-0 up.

This goal for Newry was sandwiched between three excellent scoring chances for St Marys. Awarded a free kick wide on the left St Mary’s winger Fay delivered a cross which took all of Joel Annett’s stature to head away from under his own cross bar. On 40 minutes a sweeping move down the St Mary’s right resulted in a deep cross which found Sean Brady at the back post, his volley smashing into the junction of the Newry post and cross bar. And Annett came to Newry’s rescue right on half time when he again cleared a high crossed ball from under his own cross bar to leave the half time score 1-0 in Newry’s favour.

Newry started the second half on the attack and created many chances which if converted would have secured the three points. Straight after the break Chris McMahon found Patton who with his back to goal laid the ball back to Jimmy Walker on the edge of the penalty area. Walker fired in a low shot which McKeever in the St Mary’s goal dived low to his left to deflect up in the air, the loose ball spiralling down towards the St Mary’s goal before being cleared off the line by a defender.

McMahon and Patton were at the heart of the next Newry chance, Patton winning a Murphy kick out which he deliberately nodded into the path of McMahon arriving at the edge of the St Marys box, McMahon’s first time shot narrowly off target.

St Mary’s also had their chances with Newry having goal keeper Murphy to thank for retaining the lead. First he had to dive full length low to his left to divert a shot from the edge of the box around his post for a corner. Then exposed by a poor pass out of defence which was intercepted on the half way line by a St Mary’s player who spotted Murphy off his line and flighted in a long range effort which forced the keeper to back pedal and twist in the air to tip the ball over his bar for a corner.

On the end of some robust tackling which drew only yellow cards from the referee, much to the annoyance of the away spectators, the Newry players remained disciplined and created a series of excellent chances in the final twenty minutes of the game all of which went unconverted.

Newry paid the price for these wasted chances deep in injury time when a scramble in the Newry box saw the ball fall to the feet of a home player who drove his shot to the back of the net to make the final score 1-1.

Against a strong St Mary’s team this was a hard won point for Newry who were best served by Man of the Match Paul McElroy who was strong and combative in his holding role in front of the defence.

Newry’s next match is on Saturday 7th December  at 13:30 hrs away to Crumlin Star in the Irish Cup. NCAFC Travel Club are running a supporters bus to the match which will leave the Stone Bridge at 11:15am sharp. 

Newry City AFC: Peter Murphy, Niall Crilly, David Anderson, Joel Annett, Conor McCaul, Graeme Edgar, Chris McMahon, Paul McElroy, Mark Patton, Jimmy Walker, Shane Lundy. Subs: Ian Curran, Neil Barr, Gary McVicker, Peter Thompson.

Photograph: Brendan Monaghan

Newry City AFC gained revenge on Hanover for an early season cup defeat with a league victory at a frozen Showgrounds on Friday night. On a pitch which had a heavy frost covering for the full ninety minutes Newry delivered their 10^th clean sheet of the season from 17 competitive fixtures and scored 2 second half goals to secure the win which puts them 6 points clear at the top of the table.

On a slippery bobbly surface goal chances were hard to come by in the first half, Newry having to wait until the 15^th minute for their first strike at goal when right back Niall Crilly ventured forward linking first with Graeme Edgar and then with centre forward Mark Patton before firing in a goal bound shot which was deflected over for a corner. This was soon followed by a double chance for the home team. Edgar challenged bravely for an aerial ball on the edge of the Hanover box attacking the ball with his head whilst the defender went with a high boot for which referee McCacken, who had a largely flawless game, awarded a Newry free kick. Up stepped Chris McMahon to place a shot destined for the top left hand corner of the Hanover net only for Matthew Short to dive full length to palm the ball out, the rebound falling to the head of Patton who did well to react only for his effort to sail narrowly over the Hanover crossbar. Evidenced by 10 clean sheets Newry defensively are on the top of their game at the moment and on 25 minutes when a dangerous ball was launched into the back post of the Newry penalty area Crilly was composed enough to take possession of the ball and pass his way out of trouble even though surrounded by a number of Hanover forwards.

Crilly was again involved in the final home chance of the half on 40 minutes when he received a throw out from keeper Peter Murphy before finding the feet of Patton half way inside the Hanover half. Patton spun round the defender and took the ball to the by line before drilling in a low cross ball which Shane Lundy latched onto only to be beaten by the surface, slipping as he shot which took all the pace and direction from his effort. The final opportunity of the half fell to Hanover. On the stroke of half time a long kick out was nodded into the path of Steven Woods and when it looked as though he had a clear sight of goal in came Conor McCaul with a burst of speed to make up vital ground which allowed him to block Wood’s shot with a perfectly judged sliding tackle to keep the game scoreless at half time.

The introduction of Jimmy Walker into the Newry midfield shortly after half time proved to be the turning point of the game. Blessed with sublime skill Walker’s close control and vision was just what the home side needed and he was immediately involved spraying a pass wide to Lundy on the left, his cross deflecting around the box before falling to McMahon who’s volley was blocked at close range by the arm of a Hanover defender, referee McCaughey waving away the Newry appeals for a penalty.

Newry’s domination of play was rewarded on the hour mark with a move which was started by Murphy in the home goal. With passing ability as good as any outfield player Murphy received a back pass and dummied the Hanover forward feigning to pass to his left before switching back to his right foot to release Crilly who now had space to exploit. This he did before finding Mark Lowry midway inside the Hanover half.  Lowry cut infield, then played a reverse pass to McMahon wide on Newrys right. McMahon beat the defender and took the ball to the end line before pulling a cross back to the edge of the six yard box where it was met by Lowry who smashed his shot to the back of the Hanover net.

Now firmly on top Newry soon doubled their advantage. Patton won another high ball which he controlled before feeding Walker. Walker played a first time pass to Lundy wide on the left wing, Lundy took the ball past his defender before returning a crossed ball from the end line to Walker who placed his shot to the Hanover net to put Newry 2-0 up.

Hanover refused to lie down and brought Dean Bunting into their attack, his lively play keeping the Newry defence on their toes.

In a move to close out the game Newry introduced the experienced Paul McElroy into a midfield position and it was McElroy who instigated the next chance when he played the ball wide to Lundy. Lundy, who was a threat to Hanover for the entire 90 minutes, again beat the Hanover defender before firing in a low cross which was just out of the reach of the in rushing McMahon.

Newry had a glorious chance to wrap the game up with minutes left when Man of the Match Niall Crilly whipped in a free kick from yards inside the Hanover half which Patton rose highest to win, his glancing header narrowly going the wrong side of the post.

In a game played on a difficult pitch, for which the Hanover committee were keen to praise Newry City AFC for hosting a game which was originally scheduled for Portadown, referee William McCacken and both teams are to be commended on providing an evening’s entertainment for a sizeable crowd on a bitterly cold night. 

Newry City AFC 1.Murphy 2.Crilly 3.Anderson 4.Annett 5.McCaul 6.Edgar 7.McMahon © 8.Curran (Walker) 9.Patton 10.Lowry (McElroy) 11.Lundy (Barr) Substitutes 12. Walker 14.Campbell 15.Thompson 16.McElroy 17.Barr 18.McVicker

Hanover 1.Short 2.Scott 3.JasonWoods 4.McKinney 5.Crowe 6.Topley 7.Elliot 8.McCullough 9.lappin 10.Sargent 11.Steven Woods Substitutes 12.Douglas 14.Hynds 15.Harrison 16.Bunting 17. Green