All roads lead to Gordon Playing Fields in Lurgan on Saturday morning where Newry U15s take on Armagh City in the Mid Ulster Plate Final. Kick off is at 9:30AM.
Team Manager Colm Murphy is hoping for plenty of support from the sidelines for the big match. Speaking to newrycityafc.co.uk he said: “The parents’ support last week was great as always and I would encourage as many of these parents and Newry supporters as possible to get behind the team this Saturday morning to cheer the lads on.”
Sat April 9th – Newry U15s 5-1 Banbridge Rangers U15s
What a difference a week makes. After a disappointing 4-0 defeat to league leaders Armagh City last week the lads bounced back in style with a super team performance to earn a a stunning 5-1 win against Banbridge Rangers on Saturday!
Newry Centre-back Aidan Ovesen opened the scoring with a fine header from a corner. Newry missed a few more chances during the first half and in all honesty could have conceded but for some fine defending by the whole back line.
It was really during the second half that Newry started to play the silky free flowing football that this team are capable of. Tiarnan Murphy placed a ball away from the keeper to make it 2-0 early shortly after the restart. But to their credit, Banbridge never gave up and scored from a corner to pull back the score back to 2-1. A poor clearance soon after from a Banbridge defence saw Tiernan O’Reilly hit a blistering shot into the net to make it 3-1. From here Newry stepped up a gear and O’Reilly slotted home his second after some great play by Toner to make it 4-1.
The highlight of the second half was a charging run from full back Matthew McGinn! He ran the length of pitch with the ball and was unlucky not to score after a ferocious shot came back off the crossbar. But Tiarnan Murphy followed in to smash the rebound into the net and make it 5-1. It was an excellent all round team performance in the second half and some great individual performances from Aaron Gallagher and Niall Grant in particular.
Goal scorers get mentioned regularly but without the support of the whole squad goals won’t come. One of our strengths is team belief that we can win matches but as always there’s still room for improvement before next weeks cup final against Armagh City!
Again a big thanks to all of the parents for their great support and I would encourage as many parents and Newry supporters to get behind the team next Saturday morning against Armagh City in Mid Ulster Plate Final in Lurgan!
by Colm Murphy, Newry City U15 Manager
Newry U15s played a game of two halves on Saturday, one good and one bad against a vastly improved Tandragee side.
Falling behind to an early goal Newry really put themselves under pressure for most of the first half with sloppy play and carelessness creeping in right across the team. It wasn’t until the last five minutes of the first half that Newry showed any sign of making a match of it.
At half-time a few positional changes were made and the team started to show what they are capable of and an early individual goal by Caolan Reavey brought Newry back to life. The team pushed on and made it 2-1 shortly after with another fine goal from Tiernan O’Reilly who was having a great second half. Numerous chances fell to Newry but poor decision making and fine goal keeping kept Tandragee in the match and against the run of play they got another goal to make it 2-2. Shea Morgan was unlucky to have a goal disallowed right at the end when referee judged that a foul had been committed earlier. Harsh but that’s football.
The team showed what they can do if they put their mind to it but a big improvement is needed for Friday night’s cup semi-final against Banbridge Rangers in Rathfriland if they want to progress to the Final.
Thanks again to Kasper, Gary and the parents for their continued support and it would be great to see as many as possible from the club out in Rathfriland on Friday night to support lads!
by Colm Murphy, Newry U15 Manager
Since the New Year, Newry City U15s have had mixed fortunes in league and cup! A few positive results after Christmas in the league cup didn’t carry into the league and the team came up against a strong Ardstraw side in last 16 of NIBFA cup. However recent league results has seen the lads move up the league table and into top five. The most recent match report for the lads’ 7-3 win against Valley Rangers is below.
Newry started brightly and should have scored in first minute when Niall Grant hit post but made up for it shortly after when man of the match Sean Mc Conville hit a great shot to put the team one up! Credit to Valley they never give up and equalised soon after but Newry hit back with another McConville goal to make it 2-1. Lack of concentration let Valley back in and they got another equaliser just before half time. Newry didn’t stop there and Adam Toner hit shot that sailed past keeper and then from kick off Mc Conville scored his third for a first half hat-trick.
Second half – Valley started brighter and pulled a goal back but then Tiernan O’Reilly broke away to score goal number 5 for Newry. This signalled a step up in play by Newry and Tiarnan Murphy twice ran on to passes from McConville to hit number 6 and 7.
This was a great all round team performance. From Keeper to front line everyone deserves credit. Thanks to Valley Rangers for a sporting game and also to our parents for your support once again.
Next match is away to Rathfriland on Wednesday night in the cup at 7.30! Let’s keep it going lads! Well done today!
by Colm Murphy, Newry 15 Manager
Newry U15s welcomed Loughside FC of Belfast to the Showgrounds for their first home match in the U15 NIBFA Cup. Conditions were far from ideal but the pitch really withstood the harsh weather and game was given all clear to go ahead.
Newry were really up for this game and it showed right from the start when after some neat play from Sean Mc Conville and Tiernan O Reilly they made the Loughside keeper spring into action to parry away a low shot from Glen Park. This trend continued and it was not long before Niall Grant slotted in the first goal to put Newry 1-0 up, following some great play by McConville and Tiarnan Murphy. Soon after, again after some great link up play from Shea Morgan and Murphy, Glen Park raced through to fire goal number two and Newry were firmly in the driving seat. Loughside to their credit didn’t give up and after some neat play a defensive error give them a chance to pull one back from the penalty spot which they duly took.
Newry not to be deflated answered back immediately and it was Park again who coolly slotted goal number three to leave Newry 3-1 up at halftime.
The second half was all about the Newry defence and against gale force winds and heavy rain they stood strong. Lorcan Ruane in goals was keeping his defence on their toes and Newry soaked up early pressure from Loughside to take firm control of this match. The back line of Ruane, McGinn, Poucher, Ovesen and Reavey along with holding midfielder Morgan really excelled. McConville ably assisted by Murphy and O’ Reilly caused constant trouble on the Loughside defence who already had their hands full trying to deal with McGinn and Park.
Newry finally wrapped up the match when O Reilly finished off a flowing move right from the keeper to make it 4-1. The introduction of Connolly, Lappin, Toner and Murphy really shored up a fine overall team performance and Newry now progress to the third round full of confidence.
A big thank you to the parents for their help and support as always and to Loughside for a sporting match!
