Newry City moved into the fourth round of the Irish Cup on Saturday with a four goal victory over Hanover at The Showgrounds. That margin of victory does not however tell the full story of a match in which the Portadown side, who are flying high in Mid Ulster Intermediate B, held their higher league opponents scoreless for the first 45 minutes and themselves had a number of chances to open the scoring before Newry took control running out comfortable winners.

Having beaten Hanover already this season 6-4 in the Bob Radcliff cup while Newry would have been confident going into this game they would also have been aware that Hanover were capable of posing a real threat. This was evident in the first 20 minutes of the game with neither side able to take control although Hanover did manage to create two decent chances to score the first of which fell to Justin Bradley who forced Peter Murphy into a smart save after 10 minutes. Conor McCaul came to Newry’s rescue to snuff out the second goal chance when he timed his sliding tackle, inside his own penalty area, perfectly to block another Bradley effort.

It took the home side 25 minutes to prise open up the Hanover defence. Chris McMahon won a long high clearance heading the ball down to Jimmy Walker. Walker immediately fed Mark Lowry wide on the right wing. Lowry ran at the Hanover defence before shooting hard and low to the far post, Joel Armstrong in the Hanover goal doing well to hold with Mark Patton following in for any slip up.

Newry were gradually getting a foothold in the game with Kenny Kearns and McMahon imposing themselves on play in the middle of the park. As ever the home side were content to maintain possession with both corner backs, Niall Crilly and David O’Connor building play from deep with Aaron Brilly in particular showing for the ball. That said Newry’s next shot on goal did not come until the 40^th minute when they were awarded a corner after a period of sustained passing in the Hanover half. Although the corner was cleared the ball was picked up outside the box by Walker who connected sweetly with the ball but was unfortunate to pick the Hanover keeper out with his effort, the ball smashing into the keepers mid drift.

While he first half ended in stalemate the second period was a completely different case with Newry almost completely dominant playing some of the best football they have shown this season hitting the Hanover net four times.

Newry’s first chance of the second period came with the half only minutes old. Walker took the ball down the right wing before laying a pass back to Kearns who whipped in a cross which Patton met with a glancing header which went narrowly wide.

Opportunity number two came on 55 minutes when Paul Donegan spotted McMahon making a forward run picking his captain out with a perfectly flighted long pass which McMahon met on the edge of the area and having spotted Armstrong off his line attempted to nod the ball over the keeper unfortunate not to get enough loft on the ball enabling Armstrong to save.

With virtually their only attack of the half Hanover had a great chance to open the scoring on the hour mark and again it was Bradley who brought the danger to the Newry goal. With Newry pressing a long clearance gave Bradley a one on one with his opposite number. Having evaded the tackle the striker only had the Newry keeper to beat but with Murphy quickly off his line to narrow the angle Bradley pulled his shot tamely wide.

Newry eventually got the break that their possession warranted minutes later when Kearns cut the Hanover defence open with a perfect pass which exploited the pace of Mark Lowry first as he collected the ball and then cut back inside his marker before blasting a left foot shot high into the roof of the Hanover net to put Newry 1-0 up.

Newry pressed home the advantage on 65 minutes with a second goal this time Lowry the provider picking the ball up in midfield and running at the Hanover defence before picking out Patton in space inside the box. Remaining composed Patton took his time before drilling a low shot past Armstrong to put Newry 2-0 up.

The game was effectively over as a contest after 75 minutes when a Kearns corner was inexplicably handled by a Hanover defender the penalty dispatched with authority by Donegan for goal number three.

Goal number four on 87 minutes was perhaps the best goal of the match. Inside his own half McMahon sprayed a pass wide to Keith Johnston. Immediately on the move Johnston passed to the feet of Sean McMullan who returned the ball to his former Warrenpoint Town colleague now with a free run on goal. With only the advancing Armstrong to beat Johnston displayed his goal scoring prowess dinking a delightful chip over the keeper for goal number four.

In a game in which Newry looked very solid there were many candidates for the Man of the Match trophy but the stand out contender was the power packed Aaron Brilly who was perpetually in motion both defending and attacking.

Delighted to have reached the fourth round of the biggest cup competition for the second successive season Newry manager Darren Mullen was full of praise for his team “We knew from previous experience against Hanover that this was going to be a tough game and the first half proved to be the case. We dominated possession without creating many chances and needed to be wary of their counter attacks. The players were told to keep the ball moving and once the goal came that they would have to open up. That’s exactly what happened and once the first goal went in there only looked likely to be one winner with all 14 players contributing to a very good performance. The fact that we had four different scorers shows that we have attacking threats throughout the team and hopefully we can take this level into another tough game next Saturday”.

Newry will now travel away to Portstewart FC in the fourth round of the Irish Cup  on Saturday 6th December.

Newry City: Murphy Crilly O’Connor Donegan McCaul Kearns McMahon Walker Brilly Patton Lowry Subs: Johnston McMullan Moan Barr Edgar Smyrmaginas.

Newry’s next game will be on Saturday 15^th November away to Banbridge Rangers in the Mid Ulster Premier Cup with a 1:45 pm kick off. Newry City travel club bus will leave the Stonebridge at 1pm.

Name: Keith Johnston

Age: 27

Occupation: Electrical Estimator

Position: Striker

Previous Clubs: Youth – Midway United. Senior – Warrenpoint Town, Orchard City & Newry City.

Honours:
Midway Utd – Umbro International cup and a few league and cup trophies throughout the youth years, too old to remember them all!
Orchard City – AOH cup and Bessbrook cup
Warrenpoint Town – Mid-Ulster Intermediate A league, Premier cup, Marshall cup, Irish League Championship 2, Irish League Championship 1 runner-up, Irish League Promotion Play-Off winners.

Footballing Hero: As a striker and Man United fan I loved watching players like Andy Cole and Ruud Van Nistelrooy..lethal finishers!

What is the best ground you’ve played at? I’ve been fortunate enough to play in most Irish League grounds but its hard to beat Newry Showgrounds, the pitch is always in top condition!

Who is the joker of the team? There’s a few..Mully, Curran and Crilly are good for cutting through people with one liners!

Apart from yourself who is the best player on the team? We have a solid team throughout, but Jimmy Walker is a different class on the ball..not so sure about his defensive side though!

Who is the worst at training? Again there is a few contenders, a few boys only turn up once a week if you’re lucky..namely Paul Donegan, maybe it’s just old age!

Who has the worst dress sense? Hard to say because we normally wear the same to matches but Peter Murphy rocks out some crazy boxer shorts!

Your toughest opponent? Probably Chris Walker from Glentoran a few years ago when I played for Newry Reserves, took a few elbows and kicks from him!

Best player played you’ve played with? Hard to pick one player but the team we had at Warrenpoint when we won the Mid-Ulster league and then Championship 2 the year after was full of great players. A special mention for Mully who was my strike partner over them years, he took the kicks for me!

If you had a super power what would it be? To be able to fly, would make life so much easier..plus it would help me get a few extra goals from headers as I wouldn’t be the tallest!

Interests outside football? I like to play golf now and again, although my game needs a lot of work!

Hopes for the future? My main aim is to win the league this year but long term I hope to help get Newry back in Irish League football where they belong.

Newry City secured three valuable points with a very comfortable victory away to Crewe Utd on Saturday. In a game which they dominated from start to finish the final five goal winning margin was far from flattering. Marshalled superbly by central defensive duo of Paul Donegan and Conor McCaul the Newry goal was never under any risk and with Man of the Match Chris McMahon and Kenny Kearns dominating midfield it was always only a matter of getting the first goal.

Newry looked like scoring as early as the second minute when Aaron Brilly released Mark Lowry with a long diagonal pass over the defence giving Lowry a free run at goal, the Newry man forcing Rogan Crothers in the Crewe goal into a fine save.

Brilly created Newrys next chance minutes later when he broke down the left wing, cut back from the end line and spotted Mark Patton unmarked on the edge of the box, Patton unfortunate to see his first time shot graze the cross bar as it skimmed the top of the net.

Newry were attacking down both flanks with both full backs pushing forward Niall Crilly supplying the next Newry chance when he linked up with Lowry to create a chance for Kenny Kearns who flashed his half volley just wide from the edge of the area.

The pressure had to tell and Newry duly opened the scoring on the half hour mark when Lowry crossed from the left wing, Kearns nodded the ball down to Patton who swivelled and shot low and hard past Rogan Crothers to put Newry 1-0 up.

The second goal nearly came straight from the kick off. McMahon regained possession before hitting a long ball towards Patton which the big man won nodding the ball into the path of the over lapping Crilly who bore down on goal and from an acute angle fired in a low cross which the Crewe defence did well to deflect around the post with Brilly lurking.

Newry manager Darren Mullen has drilled patience into his players and this match was a great example of a team willing to maintain possession and wait for the correct opportunity. This theory bore fruit just before half time. Since scoring Newry enjoyed almost 100% possession content to recycle the ball around the team waiting for an opening. That moment came on 42 minutes when Kearns spotted Lowry’s run along the Crewe defence and from 30 yards out played a penetrating ball perfectly into his path, Lowry not breaking his stride as he collected the pass and rounded the keeper to score from a wide angle.

The second half was similar to the first with Newry dominating play content to pick their moment. Perhaps the only disappointing aspect of the day for Newry was that the third goal did not come until the 75^th minute. As with many Newry goals number three was down to the pace of Lowry. Crilly played the ball into space with Lowry chasing. When the Crewe defender committed to winning the ball Lowry’s speed got him there first nipping in to knock the ball to the end line from where he whipped in a cross which was cleared from the goal line by a Crewe defender. Unfortunately for Crewe the clearance only reached Keith Johnston who instantly controlled before shooting to the far bottom corner of the Crewe net with the outside of his right foot for an assured finish.

Goals four and five came in the final minutes. On 85 minutes Kearns again played a through ball which Johnston latched on to, his shot from the corner of the box finished to the net by Lowry as he slid in at the far post. And it was the old war horse McMullan who rounded up the scoring when Crilly and Johnston combined to give him a shooting chance from inside the box which he took with aplomb.

Newry manager Darren Mullen was content with his team’s performance “After playing well in our defeat to Armagh City during the week it was important that we carried that level of performance into this league game. We did exactly that and could have been three or four up after 15 minutes. Our first half was some of the best football we have played this season. We made sure that the players knew that that had to be maintained for the full 90 minutes and in the end we ran out easy winners. It was an excellent team performance and with a bench that had another five players who could all start for us having a big squad is now paying dividends”.

Newry City AFC: Murphy, Crilly, O’Connor, Donegan, McCaul, Kearns, Walker, McMahon, Brilly, Patton, Lowry, Subs: McMullan, Johnston, Barr, Moan, Edgar.

Newrys next match is at home on Saturday 8^th November in the Irish Cup against Hanover, kick off 3pm. Come and show your city your support!!!