Newry breezed into the third round of the Marshall Cup with a comfortable four goal win over Seapatrick at the Showgrounds on Tuesday evening. Determined to build from the back Newry at times passed the ball around as if they were the only team on the pitch and created many more chances than were converted. Never the less manager Darren Mullen will see this as another improved display as his team settle down after a shaky start to the season.

The home sides first chance came as early as the second minute, David O’Connor lofted the ball to the edge of the area where it was helped on by Mark Patton to Aaron Brilly arriving at the back post, Brilly’s prod at the ball through the defenders legs saved by Darren Brooker in the Seapatrick goal.

Lowry’s lightening pace later proved to be the one of the highlights of the match and Seapatrick got an early warning on the fifth minute when he was released by Niall Crilly for a run on goal. Having burst into the opposing penalty area Lowry chose to pull the ball back for Sean McMullan who had done well to get anywhere near Lowry and was unfortunate when Lowrys pullback was a stride behind him as he arrived inside the box.

The home support didn’t have to wait long on the opening goal however as Newry went 1-0 up on 10 minutes with the same two players involved. This time McMullan was to be the provider slipping the ball to the feet of Lowry who rolled away from his marker and passed the ball neatly past Brooker for goal number one.

Newry were almost playing with a four man attack with Brilly on the right and Chris Fay on the left linking with Lowry and McMullan. The two wingers were central to Newrys next two chances, the first of which was spurned, the second converted. On 17 minutes Brilly picked the ball up inside his own half and raced forward, giving the ball to Lowry before getting it back and whipping in a high cross to the back post where it was met by Fay alas unable to keep his headed effort down, the ball sailing over the crossbar.

The second chance was created by one of those passing movements which Newry excel at. Having received the ball from his defence Patton held the play up in midfield before laying it back to centre half Paul Donegan. Donegan spotted Lowry move into space and pumped a low ball into his feet. Lowry instantly knocked the ball wide to Brilly who whipped another cross along the face of the Seapatrick goal where again it was met by Fay arriving at the back post and this time he made no mistake to double the Newry lead.

Newry were attacking at will at this stage with Graeme Edgar, who had another excellent game in the centre of the park, venturing forward to get his head to a Fay cross but was unable to get enough loft on his attempt to lift the ball over Brooker.

The 35^th minute brought the first threat to the Newry goal of the night, an effort which was snuffed out by an excellent sliding block from Donegan who with his partner Ian Curran rarely looked troubled and were more often the building blocks for Newry attacks.

The third goal owed much to the skill of McMullan. Receiving a throw in from O’Connor deep in the Seapatrick half McMullan flicked the ball up and crossed it over his head for Brilly to nip in front of his marker and flick a deft volley from the edge of the small box up and over Brooker and into the net for a picture goal to leave the half time score 3-0.

With the tie virtually won in the first half there was little urgency to the game in the early part of the second half as the home side passed the ball around. This changed on 65 minutes when O’Connor battled for the ball deep in his own half and having secured possession found Patton. Like Edgar, Patton had shown his versatility with a splendid nights work in the centre of midfield. Now with the ball at his feet and having spotted Lowry isolated with his marker on the half way line the big man pitched a perfect ball which bounced midway inside the Seapatrick half giving Lowry a race with his marker. Having started a yard or two behind in a flash Lowry had raced past the defender and despite attempts to haul him back latched onto the ball and in a few paces fired in a low shot which Brooker could only tip onto the base of his post and into the net for goal number four.

With the game won Newry made three changes but the chances kept coming with McMullan involved in most. On 75 minutes he broke down the right wing and crossed to the back post where Stefan Martin rose highest to head the ball back across the goal and was unfortunate to see it cleared off the line for a corner. Ever alert McMullan received a short pass from the corner and picked out Curran who’s diving header was also blocked on the Seapatrick goal line.

Seapatrick for their part kept battling and with 10 minutes left had their best opportunity of the night. Having hustled the Newry defence into a mistake a Seapatrick attacker fizzed a low shot from the corner of the Newry box across goal forcing Peter Murphy to dive full length to tip the shot around his post.

The final chance of the night came Newry’s way and once more McMullan was at the centre of it. Finding himself surrounded by three Seapatrick players wide on the right McMullan flicked a pass up and over the trio releasing the overlapping Edgar down the wing. Edgar swung in a cross which Lowry headed wide.

In all a comfortable win for Newry but as always games have to be won. This game was won with a solid defence who moped up anything which came their way along with often starting many attacking movements. In midfield Patton and Edgar put in sterling shifts whilst the four attacking players jelled excellently with Lowry sealing the Man of the Match award with two excellent goals.

Newry City AFC: Murphy, Crilly, O’Connor, Curran, Donegan, Patton, Edgar, Brilly, Fay, McMullan, Lowry. Subs: Martin, Campbell, Quinn, Davison.

Photographs courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.

With Ballymacash Rangers the first visitors to The Showgrounds for the new season Newry were able to witness the step up in grade which awaits them in their first season in Mid Ulster Intermediate A from opponents who spent most of last season in the top quarter of the table. As for the match itself Newry’s cause was not helped on the quarter hour mark when they lost their captain Chris McMahon through injury. Indeed McMahon was fortunate not to have been badly injured in the incident which left his shin and ankle badly bruised but was not judged to have been worthy of a free kick by the match referee. The man in the middle did, however, get his next major decision correct when he awarded a penalty against Newry for a mistimed tackle which sent a Ballymacash forward sprawling over the end line from a position in which he was posing little danger to the Newry goal.

The Newry response to going a goal behind from the spot kick will have pleased manager Darren Mullen as his side pressed forward for the rest of the half. Kenny Kearns fired over from the edge of the box after being set up by Mark Patton and then Kearns floated a delightful diagonal ball over the defence into the path of Mark Lowry who got to the ball first but was unable to get enough power into his shot to trouble the keeper. Newry were now well on top but when a dubious offside call by the referee robbed McMullan of a chance for the equalizer it looked as if the half time whistle was going to come at the wrong time for the home side. However, the big man was not to be denied. Chris Fay laid the ball wide into the path of Paddy Magill who whipped over a high cross for which Patton challenged the keeper, the ball falling to McMullan who finished to the net to leave the half time score level.

Newry continued to probe after the break with Kearns and Lowry causing problems for the Ballymacash defence, Lowry paying the price for his trickery being subjeced to a series of late tackles by a stretched defence. However for all their pressure Newry never really looked like scoring and when they did get into dangerous positions the threat was ended with Newry players repeatedly adjudged to have roamed needlessly into offside positions. With 15 minutes left it looked as if Newry might be about to get on top when a Ballymacash defender was given a red card for yet another late tackle on Lowry. Alas, the breakthrough never came and Newry paid the highest price when they gave away a soft free kick just inside their own half and then allowed the Ballymacash centrehalf to move forward and get onto the end of the free kick to nod home and secure the three points for his team.

In a game where they often promised but never really got going best for Newry were Kenny Kearns, Mark Lowry and Sean McMullan.

Speaking after the game Newry manager Darren McMullan was in philosophical mood “Apart from the first 20 minutes of this game I thought we were the better team and had most of the possession but lacked a cutting edge. They were a good physical side and it was a good indication of what is ahead this season as they are one of the favourites for the league. Defensive errors cost us dearly in the end against 10 men and we are going to have to learn to make the most of our chances. It was an improvement on the Lower Maze performance and we will have to pick ourselves up for the next league game.

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

My first report of the campaign comes after a mixed start to the season. Our first 3 games have resulted in a draw, a loss and a win. Whilst there is no need to panic at this early stage, we know that performances will need to be improved upon to give ourselves a chance of success this season. We have seen already in our opening two league games that the standard is higher than last season with less time on the ball and games played at a higher tempo. It’s a challenge that we must rise to but one we are also looking forward to. The players are preparing in the right manner and with a bit more luck in front of goal we could easily have been sitting with 6 points instead of 1. However defensive mistakes will need to be limited and we
can’t afford to feel sorry for ourselves. We have brought in 10 new players and it will take time for them to adjust to our style of play but there have been enough signs in the past 2 games to show we are on the right track.

After our win against Richill we have a further two cup games before we return to league action. They are both tough games but a good cup run is something we are looking for this season with the hope of silverware along the way. The draw for the Irish Cup takes us away to Strabane Athletic in what is sure to be a tough game. They took Premiership side Ballinamallard to a replay last season before being narrowly defeated 1-0. However, I’m sure they realise they could also have had an easier draw in this first round stage and we will go there in confident mood. The fact that we beat Richill 5-2 with 8 senior players missing shows the depth we have in the squad and with the league and 6 cup competitions we are going to need every member of that squad.

Finally I would like to wish our ladies team the best of luck in their Irish cup final against Linfield. They have been doing extremely well over the past few seasons and would be a terrific achievement if they were to bring the cup back to Newry. Hopefully by this stage the powers that be have seen sense to change the time of the final to allow players and fans to attend.

Yours in sport,

Darren

With a chance to put the early season poor league form to one side Newry fielded a much changed side for Saturday’s visit of Richhill in a preliminary round tie in the Bob Radcliffe Cup. Having beaten the visitors three times last season Newry would have been confident of winning this cup tie and that was how the game worked out with the home side taking the lead as early as the fifth minute when Ian Curran got on the end of a Chris Fay corner to side foot  home. Newry continued on the front foot, Sean McMullan forcing a smart save from Richhill keeper McCartney with a low drive from the edge of the box. For all their possession Newry got a scare with 13 minutes gone when a wind assisted clearance was not dealt with by the home defence allowing David Ross to run onto the loose ball inside the Newry box, his shot however flashed wide of the goal.

Obviously the Newry defence did not learn from this and two minutes later the scenario was repeated. However this time it was Andrew Allen who got onto the ball and he made no mistake giving Chris Davison, who was making his full debut in the Newry goal, no chance as he levelled the scores. With Chris Fay and Graeme Edgar controlling the centre of the park the home side never looked in danger of loosing the game and went a goal up again on the half hour mark. Again McMullan was involved when his persistance in chasing a loose ball paid off allowing him to hold the ball up and lay it back to Kearns. Industrious as ever McMullan got himself into the box to get his head to the Kearns cross helping the ball towards goal from where it was forced home by Lowry who nipped in front of the Richhill keeper.

What will not please the Newry management is that from this position they did not kick on and like earlier games gave away a soft free kick which again was to prove costly. After conceding a free kick wide on the right Newry failed to deal with the crossed ball which made its way across the box to the back post from where Richhill’s Kyle Davidson made no mistake. Not to be denied Newry bounced back to regain the lead before half time, Kearns winning a free kick 25 yards from goal and then composing himself before curling a beautifully flighted ball into the top corner of the Richhill net to leave the half time score 3-2 to Newry.

That was as good as it got for Richhill as the home side dominated the second half. Mark Lowry is a threat to most defences and through his own endeavour he could have doubled the Newry advantage on the 50^th minute. Having chased a long ball Lowry bravely blocked the advancing goalkeepers clearance but was unfortunate as the ball looped into the air allowing the Richhill defenders to get back and crowd out his shot on goal. McMullan was enjoying his free role upfront and was giving the Richhill back four a torrid time. On the hour mark he rose highest to nod a long Niall Crilly pass to Lowry.  Lowrys return ball released McMullan to shot across goal bringing a fine save from McCartney who pushed it round his post for a corner. Ian Curran could have had his second goal of the day from Fay’s corner but was unfortunate to find the goal keeper with his header with the rest of the net gaping. The goal had to come however and again it was McMullan winning the ball in the air and finding Lowry. This time Lowry did not return the pass instead spinning past his marker and shooting first time to the bottom right hand corner of the Richhill net. The home side rounded off the scoring in the final minute and fittingly McMullan grabbed one for himself. With acres of space to run into Joe Campbell ran with the ball from the halfway line before picking out Fay at the back post. For his efforts Fay would also have deserved a goal but it was not to be as his shot rebounded off the cross bar with McMullan the first to react, the big striker displaying fleet of foot to deftly dink the ball over McCartney for Newrys fifth and final goal.

In a much better performance best for Newry were Curran, Edgar and McMullan with Chris Fay just getting the nod for Man of the Match. Manger Mullen was clearly pleased to get a win “Despite missing eight senior players we were able to win this cup game quite comfortably in the end. However, several defensive mistakes left the first half tighter than it should have been. Once we organised ourselves at half time the second half performance was a lot better and we were able to run out easy winners. We had five players making their first appearance of the season and this game shows the depth of our squad. Hopefully we can use this win to push on in the next few games.”

Newry City AFC: Davison, Crilly, Lundy, Martin, Curran, Kearns, Edgar, Brilly, McMullan, Lowry, Fay, Subs: O’Connor, Quinn, Campbell, Murphy.

Newry City Travel Club will be running a supporters bus to the Newry game away to Strabane in the Irish Cup on Saturday 23rd August. The bus will be departing from the Stonebridge at 10.45am sharp. All are welcome.

Photograph: Brendan Monaghan.