Newry City AFC U21s

NCAFC Academy Results Round-Up

NIFL Championship U21 Development League: Newington U21 1-3 Newry City AFC U21

NIFL Academy League U18: Cliftonville Strollers 6-0 Newry City AFC U18

NIFL Academy League U16: Cliftonville U16 12-0 Newry City AFC U16

 

Team in Focus: Newry City AFC U21s

 

The U21s got their season off to a positive start with a win over Newington at Valley Leisure Centre on Saturday morning.

The first few minutes of the game was cagey. Both teams tried to wrestle control of the ball. Newry came out the better and started to move the ball well and open up Newington’s back line. With the first worked attack the ball was played down the left for Darragh McParland to play Daniel O’Sullivan in on goal, the Newington goalkeeper made a great point blank save. Jack Deery was first on the scene to head home to give Newry a 1-0 lead with 3 minutes played.

Newington fought well and managed to equalise on the 13th minute when Newry’s Rory O’Connor was fouled on the ball. However, the referee waved play on and Newington found themselves back in the game.

Newry continued to create chances, with control of the ball and game. Only for Newington’s Goalkeeper, who had a phenomenal game. Newry would have found themselves out of sight.

Lee Fallon, played a clipped ball over the top of the defence to Jack Deery, who calmly controlled the ball under pressure and rolled it across the box for Daniel O’Sullivan to make it 2-1 to Newry.

Half Time 2-1 Newry.

The game was well controlled again by Newry in the second half and again only for Newington’s goalkeeper the game would have been out of sight.

2 penalties were awarded to Newry in the second half after great play into the box. Daniel O’Sullivan had his penalty pulled from the corner by the brilliant Newington goalkeeper.

In the dying moments of the game, Daniel with great courage took penalty number two to make it 3-1 to Newry.

A game well controlled by Newry and on another day, it could have been a more comfortable ride.

Full Time 3-1 Newry.

Team List; Calum O’Reilly, Adam Heaney, Pierce Patterson, Darragh Cluskey, Eoghan Hickey, Louis Crilly, Rory O’Connor, Evan McEnteggart, Kyle Harte, Adam Doran’s, Lee Fallon, Jude Whitten, Karl Woods, Keelan McEvoy, Jack Deery, Daniel O’Sullivan, Darragh McParland

Debuts made for Newry from;

Jack Deery, Darragh McParland, Lee Fallon, Adam Dorans, Adam Heaney and Keelan McEvoy.

Next up the U21s welcome Ballyclare Comrades to The Showgrounds on Monday 2nd September KO 7.45pm.

 

Newry City AFC U18s

Newry City AFC U18s started their season with a 6-0 defeat away to the reigning League Champions Cliftonville. The score was a fair reflection and could have been worse but for some excellent goalkeeping by Artan MacPhaidin making his debut for Newry. There were a lot of positives particularly in the first half as the boys worked hard and kept the game scoreless until one minute before half time and Cliftonville went in 1-0 up at the break. Unfortunately tiredness kicked in, in the second half as a lot of players were new to this level of football and the intensity involved. Ciftonville ran out convincing winners with five goals in the second half, three of which came in the last ten minutes. On Friday 30th August the U18s travel to play Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park KO 8pm.

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O’Brien Re-signs at The Showgrounds

Newry City AFC are delighted to announce that Alex O’Brien has signed a new contract to remain at the club.

 

The highly-rated 19-year-old joined the club from League of Ireland side Bohemians at the end of the January transfer window, impressing in his 10 appearances in total during the second half of the 2023-2024 season.

 

First Team Manager Barry Gray is pleased to have brought O’Brien – who play both in defence and midfield – back to The Showgrounds.

“It’s great to have Alex commit to another season with us. He’s a very talented young player that we saw plenty of at the tail end of last season,” he said.

“Alex is a versatile player that can operate in a number of positions, which is always important when you’re building your squad. We know Alex in detail and he now knows us, so we’re really looking forward to getting him in and working again.”

 

O’Brien added: “I’m delighted to be back for another year with Newry. I really enjoyed my time with the lads here last season.

“My main focus this year is to help the team challenge for the league and win promotion back to the Premiership. I can’t wait to be back in and to get going for the season ahead.”

 

Alex will wear the number 8 shirt for the forthcoming season, with Adam Carroll, who wore number 8 in the last campaign, now wearing number 10.

NCAFC Manager Barry Gray with new First Team Coach Mark Griffin

Gray welcomes new First Team Coach

Newry City AFC are pleased to announce that Mark Griffin has joined the club as First Team Coach.

 

The 33-year-old arrives from his hometown club Dundalk, where he was most recently the League of Ireland side’s Under-20s Manager.

 

As a player, Mark enjoyed spells in the League of Ireland with Dundalk, Derry City, Bohemians and Drogheda United, before playing in the Irish League with both Glenavon and Warrenpoint Town.

 

First Team Manager Barry Gray said: “’I’m very excited to have Mark on board as First Team Coach.

“He’s a young dynamic coach with great passion and energy and a history of working with young players, which is vital to us this year in particular. Mark was an excellent player and knows the Irish league and I’ve no doubt he’ll be a great asset to us in our bid for promotion.”

 

Mark Griffin said: “I like Barry’s model of thinking. He’s extremely organised and extremely intelligent in how he sets his teams up, so I’m just looking to add to that to get us back up to the Premiership, which is where Newry deserves to be. 

 “The first week has been great and the boys have been really receptive on the pitch so we’re really looking forward to getting our first pre-season game under our belt next Tuesday night.”

 

Dermot McVeigh has moved on and the club would like to thank him for his contribution during his time at The Showgrounds and wish him well in his future endeavours. 

Barry Gray with Jamie O'Flaherty. Brendan Monaghan Photography

O’Flaherty Signs at The Showgrounds

Newry City AFC First Team Manager is delighted to welcome his sixth signing of the Summer Transfer Window in defender Jamie O’Flaherty.

 

Gray commented “Fla is a brilliant addition to us as a team. A young local lad that I’ve experience working with last season. He’s a high energy player that likes to attack and contribute in many areas on the pitch which is exactly what we need. It’ll be great to get working with him Again and see him on the pitch asap.”

New Signing Jamie O'Flaherty. Brendan Monaghan Photography
New Signing Jamie O’Flaherty. Brendan Monaghan Photography

 

Jamie O’Flaherty commented “I am delighted to have signed for Newry and to be playing under Barry again. The team already had quality players and hopefully with the new signings we pull together and get back up to the Premiership.

“I’m really looking forward to playing in front of the fans, hopefully we can repay their great support this year with good performances and get results.”