In one of the most exciting finishes to a match at The Showgrounds in years Newry City came from two goals down with seven minutes remaining to score three goals without reply and in so doing end Tandragee Rovers 33 game unbeaten league run which had stretched back to 2013.

In a game played in incessant rain the football served up was a credit to both sides with Newrys passing flair in contrast to Tandragee’s organised defence and direct attack.

The home side had two great chances to take the lead in the opening minutes Mark Lowry put clear by Chris McMahon only to be denied by the legs of Richard McGivern in the Tandragee goal deflecting the ball wide. And from the resulting corner Sean McMullan’s volleyed effort brought another good save from the visiting keeper who then mopped up McMahons effort from the rebound.

End to end as the game was Newry relied on their keeper Peter Murphy on 15 minutes when a defensive mistake gave Cecil Corbitt a clear sight of goal bringing a smart save from Murphy low to his right. And Murphy was soon back in action this time diving low to his left to save from Mark Bicker.

McMullan was working hard to get the Newry attack going linking with David O’Connor to create an opportunity for Lowry, the winger cutting inside the box and pitching his shot for McGivern’s far post alas not setting the ball wide enough allowing the keeper to gather. With the game delicately balanced calamity struck for Newry with 30 minutes gone when a routine clearance was scuffed, the ball falling to the feet of AJ Gallagher who expertly chipped the ball back over Murphy’s head and into the empty net to open the scoring.

If the build up to Tandragee’s first goal was fortuitous there was nothing lucky about the second in the early stages of the second half. Having picked the ball up inside the Newry half Simon McClean made his way to some 30 yards from goal from where he smashed a shot which hit the top corner of Murphy’s net despite the despairing dive of the Newry keeper.

Although two goals down Newry refused to let their heads drop, McMahon leading by example showing up all over the pitch and with Tandragee content to sit on their lead Newry created a series of chances. On the hour mark Conor McCaul strode into the opposing half taking the ball to outside the penalty area before drawing the defender and slipping a pass to O’Connor on the overlap, his low cross flashing across goal just out of Lowry’s reach at the back post. McMullan was constantly showing in front of his marker, the big man showing fleet of foot to flick the ball down the line for Lowry to use his pace to outstrip the Tandragee defence. This tactic looked likely to bear fruit for Newry with Lowry, on several occasions, getting past the last defender his crosses however frustratingly refusing to fall favourably for the home side.

These chances sandwiched a real scare for the Newry goal when another mishit clearance fell to a Tandragee player who looked sure to score denied only by a saving challenge from Rian Hand who injured himself in the process.

That save however proved crucial as the game finally swung Newrys way on 83 minutes when Keith Johnston, who looks back to his best having suffered from an injury hit season renewed his partnership with his old ‘Point partner McMullan, laying a perfect pass to the striker who gave McGivern little chance with an assured finish.

As Newry piled forward for an equalizer they were almost caught out by a breakaway from Tandragee, Bicker foiled in his attempt to score by another fine diving save from Murphy.

From then on it seemed only to be a matter of whether Newry could grab an equalizer. With Rian Hands injury leading to substantial added time Newry continued to pile forward and were rewarded with 92 minutes on the clock when McMahon sliced the visiting defence with a perfect ball which Lowry used his pace to run onto and with McGivern perhaps expecting a shot across goal Lowry chose to drive his shot low and hard to the near post giving the keeper little chance to level the score.

What seemed impossible a quarter of an hour earlier happened on 96 minutes with a goal started and finished by Sean Hand. Picking the ball up in the middle of the Tandragee half Hand played the ball wide to McMullan who beat his marker before drilling in a low ball which Johnston dummied for Hand, who had followed the ball into the box, to smash it home to spark joyous scenes for the Newry followers who have had a frustrating season.

And even at this late stage the referee refused to blow his whistle until Tandragee had one more chance to push forward but it was not to be for the visitors, the referee calling for the ball with 98 minutes on the clock to signal a 3-2 win for Newry.

Rightly pleased with his team’s spirit Newry manager Darren Mullen was in upbeat form after the game “This was a tremendous win for us and not only boosts morale but shows we are more than capable of competing at the highest level in this league if we apply ourselves correctly. We could have been 2 up in the first 5 minutes but even when we went 2 down our heads never dropped and showed character throughout the team. Tandragee are a well drilled side and are rightly favourites for the league but we more than deserved our win and gives us plenty of encouragement to take into next season. We are on a decent run at the minute and the challenge for the players is to finish the season as best we can. I’ve questioned them this season at times but can’t fault them with performances like this.”

Newry City: Murphy, Crilly, O’Connor, McCaul, R Hand, Durnin, McMahon, Curran, Lowry, McMullan, S Hand Subs: Smaryginas, Edgar, Johnston, Walker, Barr.

Newry City’s next match is at home on Saturday 11^th April against Fivemiletown. Kick off 2:15pm.

Photographs courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.

Newry City produced arguably their best performance of the season on Saturday to record a 4-1 victory away to St Mary’s. Playing on the artificial pitch at Annagh Newry revelled on the flat surface which lent itself to their passing brand which they have stuck to all season. And although now playing for pride only as this season draws to its end its clear that Newry manager Darren Mullen has his eyes firmly set on next year with the foundations to be set in the five games that remain.

Against St Mary’s in the first of those five game’s the first half belonged almost exclusively to Newry, the visitors signalling their intentions right from the kick off as David O’Connor and the highly impressive Josh Durnin created a shooting opportunity for Sean Hand who cut in from his left wing position to fire a warning shot over the St Marys crossbar. Durnin was pulling all the strings and was again involved minutes later when he showed up deep in his own half to take the ball from O’Connor before finding Chris McMahon in space on the edge of the St Mary’s box. McMahon slipped the ball to Sean McMullan who twisted and turned to make space for a shot only to be denied by Chris Mackle who poked the ball for a corner as the big man was about to pull the trigger. It wasn’t all fancy footwork however, Newry’s next chance falling Hands way after a crunching tackle from Ian Curran dispossessed a home player mid way inside the St Mary’s half, Hand latching onto the loose ball before firing in a dipping drive which skimmed the top of the St Marys netting. The same player was even more unfortunate from Newrys next attack when he let fire from almost the same spot this time denied by an excellent save from Martin Savage who flung himself across his goal to tip Hands shot onto the underside of his crossbar. Indeed Savage was in great shot stopping form and was soon to once more come to his sides rescue. From his own half O’Connor spotted a forward run from McMahon and zipped a low ball forward which McMullan stepped over, the pass perfect for McMahons run allowing the Newry captain to smash a left foot shot which looked destined for the top corner of the St Marys net except for another diving save from Savage.

With all of this packed into the first 30 minutes the pressure had to tell and a flowing first time passing movement from Newry, on the half hour mark, which culminated with McMullan knocking the ball back to Niall Crilly who pinged a low diagonal ball to Hand arriving into the box, the winger using all the pace on Crilly’s pass to side foot his first time shot into the roof of the St Marys net before Savage had time to react to open the scoring for Newry. The visitors doubled their advantage just before half time with another picture book goal. After a period of short passing between the defence and midfield the ball arrived to Crilly in his right back spot. Crilly immediately injected pace into the play picking out Mark Lowry with a forward pass before running onto the return flick leaving the St Mary’s covering players in his wake as cut through the defence and into the box before picking his spot in the far bottom corner of the goal to put Newry 2-0 up with a clinical finish.

Having dominated the first half Newry handed St Mary’s a lifeline at the start of the second when an innocuous high ball was misjudged, the ball allowed to bounce into the path of a St Mary’s player who had the simplest of tasks of lobbing the ball over the stranded Peter Murphy to halve the Newry advantage.

The visitors, however, soon regained the momentum, Crilly sweeping a pass from right to left back from where O’Connor almost replicated Crilly’s goal, playing the ball forward to McMullan before receiving a return pass and taking the ball to the edge of the area before striking a low shot just wide of the post with Savage beaten. Newry regained the two goal advantage on the hour mark when Conor McCaul ended a phase of Newry passing by breaking forward, taking the ball round a few challenges before slicing the St Marys defence with a pass perfectly weighted into the path of Hand who curled his shot around Savage and into the far corner of the net for his second goal of the game.

And a match full of cracking goals was topped off by Newrys fourth with Man of the Match McCaul once more central. Again picking the ball up in his own half McCaul waltzed forward making light of several challenges until he arrived inside the St Marys box where he first feigned to shoot before squaring the ball to McMullan at the back post, the striker also dummying his first shot before picking his spot to round off a fine win for Newry which delighted Mullen “This was a very good team performance from start to finish. The players were told before the game that we have five games left and the challenge is to win them all to finish the season in the right manner. We showed our intentions early on and played some lovely football which unfortunately hasn’t been evident enough this season. Everyone played their part but Josh Durnin and Conor McCaul were outstanding in what turned out to be a comfortable win. We know that we are a better team than results have shown this season but we are growing up as a group and results like this will give us reason to look forward to next season”

Newrys next game is under the lights at home to Tandragee on Wednesday 1^st April, kick off 8pm.

Newry City: Murphy, Crilly, O’Connor, R Hand, McCaul, Durnin, McMahon, Curran, Lowry, McMullan, S Hand Subs: Fay, Johnson, Smyraginas, Crummy.