Newry City secured three precious points at Tandragee on Saturday but what could be even more valuable to Darren Mullen’s men will be the lesson they will have learnt from the game.  Three goals to the good at half time and coasting to victory the Newry boys were unsettled by two final quarter goals from Tandragee which meant that it was the visitors who in the end were glad to hear the final whistle.

The home side were the first with a chance on goal, Simon McClean outpacing the Newry defence before cutting back inside the box, onto his right foot, and swinging a shot towards the far top corner which brought an excellent save from Peter Murphy as he stretched to tip the ball around the post.

Until the half hour mark the game became a tough midfield battle with neither side looking likely to score. That all changed on 30 minutes and once more it was that man Sean McMullan getting on the score sheet for Newry. With Tandragee pressing Newry captain Chris McMahon won the ball and fed Paddy Mooney on the half way line. With the home defence stretched Mooney played a low incisive pass between the central defenders which McMullan ran onto before checking back and curling a low shot around McGivern nestling in the bottom corner of the Tandragee net to put Newry one up.

This goal settled the visitors and they soon got the second goal created by the nifty footwork of Man of the Match Decky Carville. Linking up with Timmy Grant down the left wing Carville ghosted past Tandragee players as he took the ball first to the by line and then back inside the box, a run which was either going to see him score himself or be hacked down for the penalty which duly happened. With McMullan in such good  goal scoring form there was no doubt who was going to take the spot kick and even less doubt that the big man would score which he did with ease sending McGivern the wrong way to double Newrys advantage. And with Newry now very much on top McMullan wrapped up a first half hat trick on 40 minutes and again Mooney was involved. This was a goal created by the vision of Jimmy Walker. Bringing the ball out of his own half Walker had his choice of runners but spotted Mooney’s run wide on the right. With Walkers pass giving him a free run on goal Mooney hit a fierce shot from the corner of the box which McGivern could only deflected into the air with McMullan first to react to nod the ball into the empty net to put Newry in the comfort zone three goals to the good.

The second half was very like the first with little early goal mouth action and a few tasty tackles many of which were met with yellow cards.  On the hour mark Newry almost got their fourth goal, Neil Mullen rising highest to meet Walkers corner with a bullet header which skimmed the top of McGivern’s cross bar. The game swung to the other end with the home side almost scoring from a crossed ball, Murphy again coming to Newrys rescue diving high to prevent the ball looping into the top corner of his net.

On 70 minutes Newry made and squandered a glorious chance to put the game to bed. Having worked the ball into the Tandragee box, first Grant look sure to score as he dribbled along the six yard box only to be denied a shooting opportunity by some excellent home defending. The threat however had not gone as the ball was passed between a series of Newry players inside the box each unable to get a clear shot on goal with some stout defending winning out.

This appeared to lift Tandragee and they pulled a goal back on 75 minutes when an in swinging corner was not dealt with by Newry, the ball eventually bundled over the line by Cecil Corbett.

Bolstered by this the home side further reduced the arrears with another goal on 80 minutes, Newry caught out by a quick free kick which Symonds was first to react to getting to the ball just before the Newry defender who clipped his heels sending Symonds to the ground, the referee with no hesitation pointing for a penalty. With the comeback now looking possible Murphy was unfortunate not to save the spot kick getting a hand to Wells effort but unable to stop the ball going over the line.

With the game now very much back on the balance the final 10 plus minutes were a little more frantic than they should have been for Newry especially if they had been able to take advantage of a glorious opportunity which came in the first of 5 added minutes. With Tandragee heavily over committed in attack the ball broke up field giving Newry a 3 against 1 numerical advantage which Walker seemed to have played out perfectly as he drew the lone defender before finding the lone Paddy Mooney who now had only McGivern to beat, Mooney perhaps with too much thinking time blasting his shot high over the Tangragee bar. In the end it mattered little as the referee blew the final whistle on 95 minutes with Newry winning 3-2.

Obviously delighted to secure three points at the home of the current champions Mullen was full of praise for his team after the game “I would have taken a 3-2 score line before the game but winning 3-0 at half time we left it tougher than it should have been and we need to learn from that. We started slowly but once we got into our rhythm they couldn’t handle us with McMullan benefitting from some excellent build up play. At half time we told them the game was far from over and although we had chances to add to our tally, we made several silly mistakes to allow them back into it. As current champions that was to be expected from Tandragee and we were more than happy to come away with the three points. McMullan will obviously get the headlines and has been in terrific form but I thought our midfield three were unrelenting. That’s five wins out of five and four wins out of four away from home which was our achilles heel last season. That said we will never get ahead of ourselves and will now look forward to a home game against St Mary’s next Saturday.”

 

NCAFC Man of the Match: Decky Carville

NCAFC Team: Murphy, McMahon, McCaul, Mullen, Sloan, Walker, Carville, McCann, Grant, Mooney, McMullan. Subs: Crilly, Durnin, Smaryginas.

Newry City showed they are made of sterner stuff this season coming from two goals down at half time to beat Crewe United at Glenavy on Saturday, a comeback which after the game particularly pleased manager Darren Mullen“Psychologically that was a big win for us. We started very poorly and paid the price for that although after going a goal down I thought we looked the more likely to score. However, it’s hard to legislate for individual errors and it’s something we need to address in training. Rather than rant and rave or kick bottles at half time I simply questioned the players character. I asked had they the guts to respond the right way and they certainly did that in the second half.”

And while the score line suggests that this was the proverbial game of two halves the true story is that but for two sloppy mistakes Newry could have won this game more comfortably and at the end could even squander a penalty without feeling the pain.

That however didn’t look likely in the early minutes when with the visitors struggling to find their feet at the back a long diagonal ball over the Newry defence found the Crewe winger Terry McGrath in space just inside the Newry box, McGrath giving Peter Murphy little chance drilling a low shot across the Newry keeper into the far bottom corner of the goal to give Crewe an early lead.

Newry slowly got to grips with the game and had their first chance after 10 minutes when Conor Sloan and Timmy Grant combined on the left wing to find Decky Carville who was unfortunate to see his header flash past the near post.  Grant was next to try for the equalizer when he shot from outside the box, his effort clipping off the top of the crossbar.

When it looked like Newry were getting on top a calamitous error at the back set them back on their heels. With 20 minutes on the clock a Crewe foray down the right wing seemed to have petered out with a tame cross which Conor McCaul shepherded into the clutches of Murphy only for the ball to squirm free directly to the feet of a Crewe forward who had the simple task of putting the ball into the empty net to put the home side two goals up, a lead which they held to the break.

Whatever Mullen did say at half time Newry were much stronger after the break with the midfield trio of Carville, Thomas McCann and Jimmy Walker all now winning their personal battles.

On 50 minutes Carville won a tussle for the ball in the middle of the park and laid the ball to the ever available Sean McMullan. McMullan pitched a first time pass over the defence into the path of Keith Johnston who instinctively attempted to flick the ball over the Crewe keeper alas unable to get enough height into his shot which Wilson stretched to catch. With Newry camped in the Crewe half a goal looked sure to come and the travelling fans didn’t have long to wait. This time it was McCann pushing forward and finding Johnston now switched back to the right wing. Johnston turned his marker inside out before looking up and picking out his partner McMullan on the edge of the box with a low pass which the Newry top scorer hit first time, his curling shot just out of Wilsons reach as it clipped the underside of the crossbar and nestled in the back of the Crewe net to bring Newry back into the game.

Newry drew level on the hour mark in a sweeping move started at left back by Niall Crilly, the ball passing through McCann, Walker and Chris McMahon before finding its way to Johnston who was simply giving his marker a torrid time. This time Johnston skipped past Dyer taking the ball to the end line before drilling a low cross along the box for which Carville had timed his run perfectly allowing him to turn the ball into the Crewe goal from close range.

Just as it looked like Newry were taking complete control they were reminded that there was still a defensive job to be done when, with Newry over committed on attack, the ball was cleared into the Newry half, the speedy McGrath outstripping the Newry defence leaving him with a clear run on goal. Murphy however made up for what had gone before as he came quickly off his line to deflect McGraths shot for a corner.

Newry were unfortunate not to take the lead on 70 minutes, McCann again winning possession in midfield and slipping a clever ball inside the full back which Grant latched onto, his shot on the run partially deflected by the Crewe keeper Wilson, the ball continuing on its path to goal but slowing enough for a covering defender to get back to clear it before it crossed the goal line.

The reprieve was however short lived and again McCann was the instigator. Picking the ball up inside his own half he drove forward before spotting that Johnston had peeled wide off his marker.  McCann played the perfect pass to Johnston who capped his Man of the Match display by taking a touch to tee up his shot before striking a swerving shot from 30 yards out which curled away from the keeper and into the near top corner of the Crewe net to put Newry into a well deserved lead.

On 80 minutes Newry had a great chance to wrap the game with the same two players involved. This time McCann played a long ball over the top of the Crewe defence for which Johnston looked second best. However the winger is at the top of his game and his pace took him past Dyer who hauled the Newry man down as he was about to shoot. While the referee awarded a penalty and surprisingly only a yellow card for the offence Newry did not get full retribution for the foul as Carville, who otherwise had another impressive outing, blasted the spot kick over the bar.

The miss mattered little however as Newry controlled the remaining minutes to progress into the second round.  After the game Newry manager Mullen however had his eyes very firmly on the league “That’s three away wins in a row now and we need to bring the intensity that was missing in the first half into next week’s league match away to Tandragee. In the second half we looked dangerous every time we went forward and defensively we looked more solid. The hard work that the players are putting in at training is showing towards the end of recent games and we have a really good squad from which I can bring on quality fresh players. That said Tandragee won the league last year and will be a really big test for us but one that we are looking forward to.”

Newry City Travel Club bus to Tandragee will be departing from the Stonebridge at 1.15pm sharp (Saturday 12th September). All are welcome.

Newry City AFC: Murphy, McMahon, Mullen, McCaul, Sloan, Carville, McCann, Walker, Grant, Johnston, McMullan. Subs: Durnin, Crilly, Mooney, Smaryginas.