Newry cruise to three points!

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 75th 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 8th November in the Irish Cup against Hanover, kick off 3pm. Come and show your city your support!!!

Newry Manager takes up Everton role

Photo: Darren Mullen (right) is pictured here with Everton FC’s chief scout for Ireland, Paul Hamilton.
Photo courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.

Newry City AFC manager Darren Mullen has agreed to become a scout for English Premiership outfit Everton FC. Darren will join forces with Everton’s chief scout for Ireland Paul Hamilton in a bid to unearth young footballing talent in the Newry and Mourne and Mid Ulster area. Newry City fans can all breath a sigh of relief though as Darren told newrycityafc.co.uk this new role will in no way affect his position at Newry, but will in fact help the club.

“This is a role that, although completely separate from my manager’s job at Newry, can only benefit the club long-term. After meeting with Paul Hamilton, Everton’s first team scout, it was agreed that I would become an extra set of eyes and ears in the Newry and Mid-Ulster area to determine whether there are any potential future Everton players, ” Darren said.

He continued: “I will advise Paul accordingly and it will then be his decision if a player goes over to Everton on trial. As part of this agreement I will travel over to Everton’s training ground Finch Farm next month to meet their coaching staff and see their coaching methods at first hand. This will be a great experience for me and will hopefully allow me to transfer what I will learn into what we are doing at Newry.”

Darren added, “It is also a great opportunity for any young player, whether they are a Newry player or not to have the chance to impress a representative from an English Premiership club. Whilst working to secure further success with Newry is my priority, this role is one to be embraced and I’m sure enjoyed.”

 

Newry Reserves beat Valley!

Newry City Reserves management team, Gary Redpath and Kevin Darcy were delighted to come away from Wednesday night’s league game at The Showground’s with Valley Rangers having secured a narrow victory “It’s great to get three points from that game having played with such a young team. The players are showing great desire and hunger in training and are now carrying this onto the pitch and with commitment that will translate into wins. Tonight was a good physical contest and no quarter was given. There was some good hard tackling from both teams with Micky Hastewell leading our boys with some inspirational challenges. It took us a while to get a foothold in the game but when we got settled we started passing the ball about. This second season at this level has definitely seen an improvement in our play”

The match itself was level in nearly every aspect bar the final goal count with both teams trading blow for blow. On eight minutes Valley had their first scoring chance when an ill judged back pass was intercepted by Johnny Newell who had his shot well saved by the advancing Chris Davison in the Newry goal. Play then swung to the other end where neat passing between Josh Durnin and Micky Maguire presented Joe Campbell with a shooting chance on the edge of the area, his dipping shot tipped over the crossbar by Nathan Heggarty.  On the half hour mark the Valley defence were nearly caught out by a long pass from Durnin which Campbell latched on to midway inside the half with Alan Johnson the only covering defender, Johnson doing well to force Campbell wide from where his shot was saved at the near post by Heggarty. With half time approaching Valley created a great chance to take the lead when Robert McCullough broke down the left wing, cut back along the end line and with options in the box chose to shoot his effort  from a narrow angle hitting the side netting. And as with the pattern of play there was still time for a chance at the other end. Neat passing between Durnin and Campbell was interrupted by crude challenge on Campbell on the edge of the box. When Campbell’s free kick was charged down by the Valley wall Durnin was the first to react unfortunate to see his low drive from outside the box slam into the base of the post with Heggarty beaten.

Newry introduced the experienced Niall Crilly after the break and he was to have a major influence on the game. On 53 minutes Campbell broke down the right before laying the ball back to Crilly who swung a dangerous low cross along the face of the Valley goal which required some excellent defending to clear. This should have been a warning to Valley as to what was to come but first they had a great chance at the other end. Newell chipped a perfect pass over the Newry defence which Richard Graham ran on to. With Davison quickly off his line Graham attempted to lob him unfortunate to see the ball come down the wrong side of the crossbar. On 65 minutes Crilly won a crunching tackle on the half way line before playing a classic  one two with Aaron Brilly. Now free on the right wing Crilly crossed to the penalty spot from where Hastewell powered his headed effort just wide. Crilly was not to be denied. With 15 minutes remaining Kevin Moan strode from his central defence position and played a perfect defence splitting pass into the path of the wide running Crilly. Crilly continued his run to the by line from where he fired a low cross into the Valley box where it was met by Mark McAteer who finished clinically for what turned out to be the decisive goal. That however was not until one more chance at the other end when a home defender sliced his clearance and with Newell about to pounce Rian Hand appeared from nowhere to sweep up the trouble securing an excellent win for Newry which sees them move into a comfortable early season mid table position with seven points from four games.

Man of the Match: Micky Hastewell

Annalong U14 0 – 3 Newry U14

by Colm Murphy, Newry City U14 Manager

Newry U14’s traveled to Annalong on Saturday to play their 5th away game in the league. The away side had to make do with a depleted squad due to holidays and injuries.

Newry started very slowly and despite the majority of possession were unable to crack open a stubborn Annalong defence. Indeed had it not been for a fine save from the Newry ‘keeper James Keenan they could have found themselves behind going into the half time break.

After the break things looked better for Newry as they gathered themselves up and started to play some fine free flowing football. After some great work in defence by Aidan Ovesen the ball made its way to Tiernan O’Reilly on the wing who crossed in for Matthew Trainor to stab the ball into the net and make it 1-0 to Newry. Newry were really boosted by this goal and shortly afterwards made it 2-0 after some fine individual skill by O’Reilly who hit a blistering shot to the far corner of the net. The work rate of Tiarnan Murphy was evident throughout the match and it was Murphy that set up Newry’s third goal to finish off a fine second half performance.

This was a fine second half display by a depleted squad but a number of players stood out and deserve a special mention. James Keenan in goals was alert throughout and handled all fantastic when called upon. Aidan Ovesen in defence had one of his best games in a Newry jersey as did Tiernan O’Reilly who has now scored 7 goals in 6 games. Caolan Reavey stepped up to the mark and played some fine passing football creating many openings for the forward line. Tiarnan Murphy, Newry’s representative on the Northern Ireland elite squad stamped his authority on this game right from the start with some fine individual play and passing and was deservedly awarded the Man of the Match by the referee. This win keeps Newry top of the league and has really intensified competition for starting places amongst a hard working squad.

Newry Under 14 team would like to take this opportunity to wish Youth Academy Manager Conlon Morrison a speedy recovery from recent illness and hope to see him back shouting us on very soon.

Fans in focus: Gary Wilson

Name: Gary Wilson

Age: 29

How long have you supported Newry? I’ve been going regularly to games for about 25 years.

How did you come about supporting the club? It’s in the Wilson blood!

Your favourite ever player? Many great players have turned out in the famous blue and white stripes over the years. Some that spring to mind include – Dessie ‘The Dundalk Hawk’ Gorman, Gary McPhee, Johnny Kenny, Stuart McLean and Willy Crawley but without doubt the greatest is Oliver Ralph! He scored a club record total of 305 goals at Newry – is it any wonder he is still idolised at the Showgrounds?!

Favourite current player? I have great admiration for many of the players at Newry at the moment but the one that stands out for me is the wee man from Omeath – Jimmy Walker.

Best memory supporting the club? My best memories supporting the club would have to be our European adventures in the late 90’s to Croatia and Germany in the Intertoto Cup. I traveled to both the games with the team and it’s something I will never forget.

Funniest moment supporting the club? The funniest thing I have seen supporting the club was at an away game at Crusaders a few years back. A Crues’ player called Jeff Spiers attempted to get over the fence to confront myself and my mate Nelly. I’ll have to leave it to Nelly to explain why though!

Favourite ground you’ve visited and why? It would have to be Mourneview Park in Lurgan. The work that Glenavon FC has put into it over the years is incredible. No matter where you sit in the ground, there always seems to be a great view of the game.

What is it you like most about following Newry? I love the friendly banter among fans and players, it isn’t something you see at many clubs. Newry City AFC is also a cross community club, which is something I am extremely proud of.

Hopes for the future? For Darren to lead us back into the Premiership where we rightly belong and to bring those European days back to the Showgrounds! Also, I have to say it is great to see the work that Conlon Morrison is putting into the new Youth Academy at the club. Hopefully the senior team will reap the rewards in the years to come.