Newry City will look back on Saturdays Premier Cup quarter final away to Banbridge Rangers and wonder just how they are out of the competition. In a game in which Newry enjoyed long periods of possession and created chance after chance the simple reason is that they did not take any of those opportunities including a penalty which would have brought them level just before half time and were made to pay by a solitary Rangers goal tucked away from the penalty spot by Chris Chambers.

Newry made three changes for the game bringing in Durnin, Edgar and Johnston for Kearns, Walker and Brilly whilst in a strange turn of fate in the Banbridge goal, making his debut for Rangers, was Chris Davison who had just completed his transfer from Newry.

The opening period of the game was largely a midfield battle with little in the way of goal chances. The first fell to Mark Lowry after 20 minutes when he nipped in front of Ryan Gregg at the back post to meet a Keith Johnston cross on the volley, his effort not troubling Davison. Newry continued to probe and they soon created another chance when Lowry laid the ball back into the path of Niall Crilly. His first time cross was met by Mark Patton who’s headed effort again did not trouble the Rangers keeper.

At the other end Peter Murphy produced a brilliant reflex save when Jerry Philip’s shot took a nasty deflection Murphy reacting fast to tip the ball over his bar.

The next fifteen minutes were to decide the outcome of the tie. On the half hour mark a long Durnin pass picked out the speedster Keith Johnston who raced clear of the Banbridge defence and with only the advancing Davison to beat Johnston didn’t get enough power behind his lobbed shot which Davison gratefully collected. Banbridge made the most of this let off minutes later when winger Stuart Mallen got away from his marker only to be taken down inside the penalty area. Maximum retribution was taken by Chambers who sent Murphy the wrong way with a solid penalty to put Rangers 1-0 up.

Newry reacted well to this set back settling into the passing routine which has served them so well this season. They looked like equalising on 36 minutes when McMahon slipped a pass through to Patton who bore down on goal taking the ball around Davison alas unable to beat the narrow angle as his shot hit the side netting. An even better chance was soon to follow McMahon again the instigator laying his pass into the path of Lowry. Once inside the box Lowry turned back inside William Frazer who pulled the winger back, referee Alan Hayes awarding Newry a penalty kick. Having converted a spot kick last week Paul Donegan stepped up with confidence but was unfortunate to see his shot crash off the base of the post with Davison diving in the opposite direction.

Possession in second half belonged exclusively to Newry as they piled the pressure onto a home side who were content to sit in defence and thwart what Newry had to offer with two banks of committed defenders. Faced with this Newry stroked the ball about picking the moment to attack the first coming after 48 minutes when Lowry twisted and turned past his opposite number before unleashing a dipping drive which skimmed the crossbar with Davison beaten.

Durnin and McMahon were seeing lots of the ball for Newry with Durnin looking particularly composed in possession. On 53 minutes it was Durnin who picked out McMahon on the left wing, his cross fizzing low into the box forcing Davison into an excellent save, the rebound bouncing around the box but always just out of the reach of a Newry boot. Newry kept on probing and almost equalized through an unlikely source in Graeme Edgar. Again McMahon started the move slicing the home defence with a ball which gave Johnston a race with Davison which the keeper won clearing the ball to 40 yards out where it was met by Edgar. Having seen that Davison was out of his goal Edgar hit a perfect first time shot over the defence only to be denied by Ryan Gregg who had retreated to head the ball clear from under his own crossbar.

The final 15 minutes of the game saw a series of half chances for Newry but they simply could not get that extra yard of space with which they could really threaten Davison. As it turned out the big keeper denied his former colleagues with a string of saves from Durnin twice, Barr twice and Johnston as the clocked clicked to 90 minutes without that elusive equalizer coming.

After the game Newry manager Darren Mullen was not too despondent knowing that on another day his team will play worse and win “We had enough chances including the missed penalty to win the game in the first half so it’s disappointing to go out. I told the players at half time not to allow it to be one of those days but that’s how it turned out. We now have to pick ourselves up for next week’s game. We were forced into changes for this game but we have a big squad and the players that came in certainly did not let us down. We now look forward to an Intermediate Cup tie away to Ballinamallard next week”.

Newry travel on Saturday to Ballinmallard to play the Mallards Reserve side in the Intermediate Cup KO 1:30 pm. Newry City supporters bus will leave the Stonebridge at 11:00.

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

 Picture courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.

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.