An unbelievable opening four minutes during which they grabbed three goals sealed the points for Newry City at The Showgrounds against in form Dundela. The scene was set in the opening minute when a clever ball inside the Dundela left back found Kevin McArdle in space deep inside the penalty area, McArdle feigning to cross before beating Alan Blaney at his near post from an acute angle.

The home support were still celebrating the opening goal when Newry doubled the advantage, Grant again involved picking out the run of Keith Johnston, Johnston continuing into the penalty area before switching the ball across the box to Mark Hughes who wasted no time blasting a high shot past Blaney in the Dundela net.

Incredibly the home side made it three with less than four minutes on the clock, Decky Carville wining the ball inside the Dundela half, Johnston once more the provider switching play to Hughes on the left wing, the Newry captain bearing down on goal before calmly shooting back across Blaney into the far corner of the Dundela net. And it could have been four for Newry after ten minutes with the roles reversed, Hughes swinging a low cross into the Dundela box into the path of Johnston who tried his luck with an instinctive first time shot, Blaney on top this time blocking with his legs.

Obviously rattled by Newry’s opening blitz it took the visitors until the 20^th minute before they troubled the Newry keeper, Jamie Jackson crossing for Matthew Burrows to head on goal, Kieran Gordon making a comfortable save.

Spurred by this Dundela created a flurry of half chances, Jackson firing a shot over the crossbar when set up by Ben Roy. On the half hour mark Gordon was called into action again, quickly off his line to deflect a Burrows effort for a corner. The half ended with two good chances for Newry, Grant out pacing the Dundela defence to make room on the right wing before squaring the ball for Hughes who was unfortunate to see his shot go the wrong side of the Dundela post. And the half closed with a glorious chance for Newry to wrap up the points, Grants through ball giving Thomas McCann a one on one with Blaney, the keeper using all his experience to steal the ball at McCann’s feet.

Dundela introduced Mark McClelland at the break and the big man brought an immediate aerial threat to the Newry goal which paid dividends on the hour mark, McClelland heading a crossed ball down to Burrows at the back post, the striker finishing from close range.

Any lingering hope of a Dundela come back was extinguished five minutes later when Newry restored the three-goal lead with a route one goal, Gordons long clearance won by Carville who with a glancing header released Johnston for a run on goal, Johnston making ground before blasting a high shot past Blaney for an empathic finish.

On 70 minutes Carville almost claimed Newry’s fifth goal, picked out at the back post by a pin point cross from Ian Curran, Carville controlled the ball on his chest before attempting an audacious lob unfortunate to see his effort bounce off the cross bar. With time running out the final chance of the day fell to the visitors, a ricochet around midfield saw the ball spring into the Newry half giving Burrows a free run on goal, Gordon alert to the danger quickly off his line to save.

After the game Newry manager Darren Mullen was obviously satisfied with his teams’ efforts “There were some harsh words before the game due to the inconsistent nature of how the players have applied themselves this season. The defeat against Newington was disappointing so we needed a reaction and that’s exactly what happened. To score three goals in the first four minutes at any level doesn’t happen too often so to do it against a good side in Dundela makes it even more special. They couldn’t cope with our pace and movement and we really should have been more than three up at half time. Kevin McArdle was rightly named man of the match but I thought the whole team was superb from start to finish. The second half was a tighter affair but we never looked in danger of losing the game and it was a really good win for us. With ten games to go we are in a good position but yesterday’s performance has set a high bench mark and one that we cannot afford to fall below if we are to get anything out of this season”

Newry now wait two weeks for their next competitive fixture, a home league match against Tobermore on March 11^th. Newry City Reserves who are well placed to win the Mid Ulster Reserve league have an important league fixture at The Showgrounds next Saturday 4^th March against local side Valley Rangers. KO 2.15pm.

Match Highlights courtesy of NCAFC TV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsiSXcNdah8&feature=youtu.be

Many thanks to Match Day Mascots Charlotte & Amy O’Hare who definitely brought the boys luck!! We hope to see you both back at The Showgrounds soon.

Newry City AFC Team: Kieran Gordon, Kevin McArdle, Stephen McCabe, Patrick Mooney, John Boyle, Thomas McCann, Marcus McKeown, Timmy Grant, Declan Carville, Keith Johnston, Mark Hughes. Subs: Ian Curran, Sean McMullan, James Walker, Mark Patton, Marty Havern.

Dundela Team: Alan Blayney, Scott Collins, Curtis Brown, Stephen McCain, Lewis Roy, Ben Murdock, Jamie Jackson, Karl Devine, Matthew Burrows, Ben Roy, David McMaster. Subs: James Sofley, Matthew Ferguson, Jordan Morrison, Gary Irwin, Mark McClelland.

Match photographs courtesy of NML Football.com Full album of photos available: https://www.facebook.com/pg/NMLSport/photos/?tab=album&album_id=762862530537458

 

Newry Manager Darren Mullen commented on Graemes departure, “Graeme is a player that we will all be sad to see leave the club. He has been there right from the very start of our revival and has played his part in our return to Irish league football.

Like his father and grandfather before him he always gave nothing less than 100% when playing in a Newry jersey. No matter what position I played him in he did it without fuss or complaint and has been a model professional in terms of his attitude and commitment. We wish him well in the remainder of his football career and he will always be very welcome back at The Showgrounds.”

Newry City Reserves maintained their Championship challenge with a 8-1 victory over Banbridge Rangers at The Showgrounds on Saturday. Fielding a strong team with several players with first team experience the Newry boys went a goal up with only a minute on the clock, Sean McMullan holding the ball up in the box waiting on the arrival of Ryan Quinn who drilled his shot across the Rangers keeper Bradley Hughes into the far corner of the net. Scoring so early may have caused the home side to switch off but whatever the cause they were made to play for a lapse in concentration at the back minutes later when a long direct ball was allowed to bounce through towards the Newry goal, William Davidson quick to capitalise giving Kieran Gordon little chance with a clinical finish to bring his side level.

On 20 minutes a similar ball once more beat the Newry rear guard, this time Gordon was quickly off his line to snuff out any danger. That was as good as it got for Rangers with Newry virtually dominating the rest of the game, the only moot point being how many they would win by.

Goal number two almost came straight away, a Quinn shot from outside the box was blocked by Rangers keeper Hughes, Jordan King alive to the loose ball but unable to force the rebound over the line.

Newry did not have long to wait to take the lead, 24 minutes on the clock when neat passing between Cian Feehan, King and McMullan resulted in the ball falling to Paulis Smaryginas who almost bust the net with a pile driver from the middle of the penalty area. And goal number three came on the half hour mark, Chris McMahon who in trademark fashion worked tirelessly throughout, took the ball from the half way line before finding McMullan on the edge of the box, the big man twisting to make room before picking out the bottom corner of the Banbridge net for his first of the day.

Strangely that’s how the score line stayed for the next half hour as it took until the 60 minute mark for Newry to grab goal number four, patient passing across the edge of the Rangers penalty area halted by Timmy Grant when he picked the wide running Jordan Coyle, his low curling cross falling perfectly for McMullan arriving at the back post to side foot the ball into the net. 63 minutes and it was five, McMahon once more finding McMullan inside the box, McMullan feigning to shoot before slipping a pass to King arriving on his left, Kings shot hitting the underside of the crossbar and appearing to bounce behind the line, any doubt removed by Coyle who blasted the rebound into the net. McMullan claimed his hat trick on 75 minutes from the penalty spot after his flicked pass had set Sheelan Fegan through on goal, the Newry youngster denied a shooting opportunity by a cynical pull on the jersey. And Fegan was to play a major part in goal number seven, picking the ball up inside his own half before finding Coyle on half way, his incisive pass giving Smaryginas a race with a Rangers defender which the Newry man won before smashing a first time shot from outside the box into the top corner of the net for a picture goal.

The eigth and final goal came after 82 minutes, McMahon clearing a Rangers corner to Marty Havern who set off from outside his own box powering past tackles as he made his way the length of the pitch before swapping passes with McMullan and picking his spot past Hughes for goal number eight. After the match Newry manager Gary Redpath was in his own words happy enough with his team “On a sticky pitch we were decent but never really got into our fast passing rhythm. However, we were better in the second half and scored some cracking goals. I was pleased to see Chris McMahon getting back to fitness, he covered just about the whole pitch and kept the boys going the whole game. Obviously Sean McMullan gives us a great target to hold the ball up, bring others into play and score goals. Young Shealan Fegan also looks that wee bit different every time you see him play and in the half hour he was on he had a big hand in a few goals.

Newry City Reserves Team: Kieran Gordon, Jordan King, Johnny Brown, Neil Mullen, Ryan Quinn, Chris McMahon, Jordan Coyle, Timmy Grant, Paulis Smaryginas, Cian Feehan, Sean McMullan. Subs: Marty Havern, Gavin Conn, Sean Mooney, Shealan Fegan, Brian Hobden.

Photographs courtesy of NML Football https://www.facebook.com/pg/NMLSport/photos/?tab=album&album_id=759566227533755

Newry City missed the opportunity to go top of the Premier Intermediate League table on Thursday night losing 2-1 to Belfast side Newington in a rearranged league fixture. Ultimately it was the concession of a penalty kick in each half which did the damage but in truth the Newry boys were unable to reach the level of performance which saw them win their three previous games, a fact which frustrated manager Darren Mullen “This was a chance missed not only to move into top spot but to consolidate our position within the top six. The disappointing thing is that the players were told exactly how Newington would play and they still didn’t deal with it in the first half. They were the better side in the first half without creating many chances but we struggled to get any rhythm in our play and were fortunate to go in level at the break. We were a lot better in the second half and looked like we wanted to win the game. We moved the ball a lot better and had the movement off the ball that was badly lacking in the first half. It’s a game we could have won even without playing at our best but their keeper pulled off two super saves to deny us a result. Unfortunately, we have been beaten by what can only be described as two very soft penalties. It’s our first league defeat in 5 games so there’s no need to panic. This league throws up unexpected results on a weekly basis and with 33 points left to play for we are still right in the mix.”

With the Newry boys expecting a physical game Newington let them know early on that they were not about to disappoint, both midfielders Joe McDonnell and Ronan Brannigan booked inside the opening 10 minutes for robust tackles. And it was Newington who were first to test either keeper, Sean McAuley swinging a dangerous free kick into the Newry box which Kieran Gordon, making his Newry debut, expertly dealt with. From this possession Gordon set up Newry’s first goal scoring chance, a long ball over the Newington defence allowing Keith Johnston to get goal side of the defence before taking a tumble inside the box, referee MacDonald waving away Newry claims for a penalty. Unfortunately for Newry, MacDonald took a different view of a tame challenge on Newington’s Conal Burn’s after 20 minutes inside the Newry penalty area, immediately pointing for a penalty kick which Burn’s calmly placed in the bottom corner of Gordons goal to put the home side a goal up. Newry had a half chance to draw level almost immediately, Mark Hughes setting Jimmy Walker up with a shooting opportunity on the edge of the penalty area, Walkers curling shot going the wrong side of the Newington post. A clever free kick almost caught Newry out after 35 minutes, with Newry expecting a cross, a direct ball down the touch line allowed Burns behind the Newry defence, Gordon forced to dive amongst incoming boots to smother the crossed ball. With five minutes remaining in the half and perhaps against the run of play Newry drew level, Mark Patton and Ian Curran challenging for a Johnston corner, the ball falling for Decky Carville who wasted no time blasting the loose ball high into the Newington net to leave the sides level at the break.

With the boost of a late equalizer in the first half Newry started the second much better, with only 3 minutes on the clock Johnston picked out the late run of Hughes into the box with a diagonal cross, Newington’s Stephen Brennan doing well to deflect the ball behind for a corner with Hughes about to pull the trigger. At the other end Paddy Mooney was called into action to deal with a dangerous ball into the Newry danger area. Indeed Mooney was called upon on several occasions to quell any threat to the Newry goal before the visitors had a great chance of their own, Curran lobbing a precise ball over the Newington defence, into the path of Thomas McCann, McCann spotting that Dean Smyth had left his goal line most unfortunate not to get enough elevation on the ball, Smyth stretching to save. Newry had a mighty let off after 65 minutes, Newington substitute Daniel White making room to cross from the right wing perfect for the unmarked Padraig Scollay who planted his header over the Newry crossbar with the goal at his mercy.

The let off was temporary however, with 70 minutes on the clock referee MacDonald once more saw fit to award Newington a spot kick judging that a Newry player had pushed his opponent as they jostled for a corner. Once again Burns stepped up, this time Gordon was unfortunate, getting his finger tips to the ball but unable to stop its path into the bottom corner to restore the home sides advantage. With 10 minutes left Newington were reduced to 10 men when substitute Stephen Sullivan received a straight red after an altercation with Curran. A goal down and a numerical advantage Newry pushed for the equalizer. With 10 minutes left Curran once again pitched the ball over the Newington defence for Johnston to swing a cross to the near post, Carville’s glancing header tipped over the crossbar by Smyth. And with time running out the Newry support thought that Hughes had grabbed a point with a stoppage time equalizer, his low shot appearing destined for the bottom corner of the Newington net, Smyth somehow getting across goal to turn the ball around the post. And there was still time for a last chance Stephen McCabe drilling a low cross into the box, Marcus McKeown’s shot on the turn flying wide and with it Newry’s fleeting chance to grab the top of the table spot.  

Newry’s next match is a home league fixture on Saturday next, the 25^th February at The Showgrounds, kick off 3pm.

Newry City AFC: Gordon, McArdle, McCabe, Mooney, Curran, Walker, Patton, McCann, Carville, Johnston, Hughes. Subs: Boyle, McMullan, Grant, King, McKeown.