Three picture book goals and three points was the Newry City return from Saturdays Mid Ulster League tie at The Showgrounds against Seapatrick. However, that does not tell the full story of a match in which Seapatrick defended stoutly obviously determined not to suffer a repeat of last Saturdays four goal cup defeat by Newry.

The first twenty minutes of the game saw incessant Newry pressure with half chances falling to Brilly, McMahon and Crilly but very much against the run of play it was Seapatrick who almost opened the scoring. With little threat to the Newry goal and the ball safely at the feet of Peter Murphy, a misplaced short kick out was intercepted by a Seapatrick player now with a free run on goal. With Murphy stranded it looked like Seapatrick only had to get the shot on target to score. However that was not allowing for the excellence of Murphy who got back into position and twisted in mid air as he dived to get a strong hand to the shot deflecting it on to the cross bar also benefiting from a piece of good fortune as the rebound landed within his reach.

The home side made the most of this reprieve going ahead on the hour mark with a goal made by their captain Chris McMahon. Picking up possession inside his own half McMahon drove at the Seapatrick defence beating tackles as he brought the ball to the end line. Composure required McMahon cut back inside before picking out the run of Aaron Brilly across the six yard line, Brilly meeting the cross with a powerful first time shot which crashed to the back of the Seapatrick net.

Similar to many games this season Newry kicked on after the half time break to completely dominate the second period. Straight after the break Niall Crilly took the ball out of defence before finding Mark Patton inside the box. Tightly marked Patton back heeled the ball into the path of Jimmy Walker who was unfortunate to see his shot deflected over the bar. Newry continued to press for the elusive second goal which looked like it would not come due to a combination of some poor final passes, wasteful finishing and a little bit of bad luck especially when Paul Donegan ran from the back post to meet a Walker corner on the penalty spot, his first time volley smacking into the crossbar with the Seapatrick keeper motionless. Pressure eventually told on 80 minutes with a goal made and scored by Man of the Match Walker. Having stifled another Newry attack Seapatrick attempted to walk the ball out of defence. Walker won the ball back and made himself some space before curling his shot from 30 yards out into the far top corner of the Seapatrick net to put Newry 2-0 up. Good as this goal was better was to come. In a one touch passing movement involving half the team beginning with Crilly in his corner back position and ending with Lowry wide on the right wing Newry moved from defence to attack in a matter of moments. Lowry still had much to do to threaten the Seapatrick goal but did so in a flash flicking the ball with the inside of his right foot onto his left which he used to smash a curling shot from 35 yards into the same top corner as Walker hit moments earlier for an early contender for goal of the season.

Newry manager Darren Mullen was happy to have secured maximum points from the game “We must have had 80% possession in this game but when you are only a single goal in the lead there is always the danger of a breakaway. The players were told before the game to be patient and that eventually paid off with three very good goals. That’s now three clean sheets and seven victories in a row and most importantly three league points. But it’s still very early days and we now concentrate on Tuesdays Mid Ulster Cup match against Armagh.”

Don’t forget this match will be on http://www.vadio.ie/newrycityafc at 9pm tonight!!

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

Newry’s next game is on Tuesday 28^th Oct away to Armagh City in the Mid Ulster Cup. Newry then travel on the 1^st November to play Crewe Utd, kick off 2:15pm. Newry City travel club bus will leave the Stone Bridge for this game at 12:45pm.

Name: David O’Connor

Age: 29

Occupation: Financial Advisor

Position: Right Back, Left Back, Centre Mid, Physio table.

Previous Clubs: Warrenpoint Town. Ballybot United.

Honours: Championship 2. Intermediate A a few times, Bass Bowls and a couple of other Mid Ulster cups back in the day. Fr Davies Cup with Ballybot a couple of years ago too.

Footballing Hero: Shaun Goater. Feed the Goat and he will score.

What is the best ground you have played in? Played in a few decent ones with the ‘Point and The Showgrounds is a great pitch, but nothing comes close the home of football, The Barley Field.

Who is the joker of the team? Ian Curran’s good for cutting boys to pieces with his one liners.

Apart from yourself who is the best player on the team? The most consistent is probably Chris McMahon. I played against him a couple of years ago too and rated him then. Jimmy Walker is very good too. With them two and Kenny Kearns, I’ll not be holding out much hope of getting a run in centre mid this year.

Who has the worst dress sense? The dress code is pretty standard with either a suit or tracksuit, but Darren Mullen has a pair of skin-tight black tracksuit bottoms he wears an odd time that give me trouble sleeping at night.

Have you got any pre-match rituals? Take the dog for a walk in the morning to loosen out the legs and then eat a couple of bananas in the hour before kick off.

Who is the best player you have ever played with? I used to enjoy playing right back at the ‘Point with Franco Trainor on the left and John Boyle and Jonny Cowan in the middle. The three boys have been about and fairly keep you right.

If you had a super power what would it be? The ability to score flying scissor kick volleys from 20 yards, Paolo Di Canio style. I keep hitting it a couple of inches too high at the minute.

What are your interests outside of football? Golf. I’ll soon be hanging the boots up and looking to lower the 20 handicap.

Tell us something about yourself not many people know: I’m a closet Michael Bolton fan. Nothing better than belting out a few classics when I’m in the car on my own!

 

*Thanks to Brendan Monaghan Photography for the cover photo.

We are pleased to announce that following the successful streaming of our games last season we will once again be partnering with local media outlet Destination Newry TV to screen this weekends (Saturday 25th) home fixture v Seapatrick FC. The game will be broadcast as live at approximately 9:00 pm on Monday night on Newry City AFC TV which is available via the Roku Box or Destination Newry TV. It will also be available free and on demand any time after the first screening. Match commentators will be Newry Chairman Martin McLoughlin and Player Joe Campbell.

 

For the second time this season Newry City beat Seapatrick 4-0, the latest win coming on Saturday at Havelock Park when with another solid performance Newry made it six wins in a row as they progressed into the last eight of the Mid Ulster Premier Cup.

Although on top from the kick off it took Newry until the 20^th minute to create a goal scoring chance, Mark Lowry firing a snapshot wide having been set up by Mark Patton. Lowry made amends on the half hour mark to open the scoring.  Aarron Brilly found Jimmy Walker with a quick throw in. Walker made ground to the edge of the area before firing in a low shot which Paul McGrath in the Seapatrick goal could not hold, the speedy Lowry the first to react to the loose ball which he tapped into the empty net.

Seapatrick had a great chance to equalize minutes later when McBurney nodded on a long ball which McEvoy latched onto for a clear run on the Newry goal. With Peter Murphy advancing from his line McEvoy chose to shoot from outside the box forcing Murphy to dive full length to his left to deflect the ball around the post for a spectacular save.

Newrys reply was decisive. Playing with the aid of a strong wind Walker whipped in a corner which centre back Paul Donegan met at the front post to head his second goal in successive games. And Walker almost wrapped the game up on the stroke of half time when his wind assisted free kick from 30 yards out was tipped over the bar by McGrath.

Five minutes into the second half Murphy had to come to Newrys rescue once more when a defensive lapse gave McBurney an opening inside the Newry six yard box, Murphy producing an excellent reaction save to maintain the Newry lead.

Newry got their third goal on 65 minutes. Chris McMahon won the ball in a tackle inside his own half and made ground before sliding a pass between the Seapatrick central defenders. Patton had work to do but the big man showed determination first to win the race for the ball and then had the composure to draw the Seapatrick keeper from his line before shooting across him and into the far corner of the net to put Newry 3-0 up.

And the big striker wasn’t finished yet as he scored a very similar goal for number four to finish the game. This time Graeme Edgar drilled a low pass from inside his own half which Patton latched onto midway inside the Seapatrick half. Again he left his markers for dead as he bore down on McGrath, this time choosing to deftly take the ball round the keeper before planting his shot to the back of the net to make the final score 4-0 to Newry.

Newry manager Darren Mullen was clearly content with his team after the match “I told the players that we need to continue winning, whether it’s a cup or league game and that’s exactly what we did. We were very rarely troubled and when they did get through Peter made two very good saves. Winning becomes a habit and the players are all working hard to keep their place in the squad. Mark Patton came in today and scored two after Sean McMullan got a hat trick during the week, so it gives us a good selection head ache which is replicated right through the team. We are back in league action next week against the same opposition as today and we will again work hard and take nothing for granted”

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

Newrys next game will be a Mid Ulster League fixture at the Showgrounds on Saturday 25^th October against Seapatrick kick off 2:15pm. Newry will then travel on Tuesday 28^th October to Holm Park in Armagh for a Mid Ulster Cup fixture against Armagh City Kick Off 7:45pm

Photograph courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.