Mullen Moves In Early

Newry Manager Darren Mullen is getting his January transfer business done early this year moving in quickly to secure the services of Briann Cabraley & Mark Kelly for the second half of the 19/20 season. “For the amount of possession we’ve had in games this season we haven’t scored enough goals so adding extra attackers to the squad was a priority and I’m delighted to bring Brian and Mark to the club. Brian played against us earlier in the season and he’s a player with bags of ability and pace. He’s brave and direct so I’ve no doubt he will fit in well with our style of play. Mark is a player who I’ve admired for a few years and tried to bring him to the club on a few occasions. He’s physical and strong with the ability to hold the ball up extremely well which can only help the other attacking players at the club. It’s something we’ve been lacking in for the past two seasons so I’m hoping we see the benefits of that in the remainder of the season. Both players will go straight into the squad for the Irish Cup next week.”

Briann Cabraley “I am very happy Darren has given me the opportunity to play at the club, I have played against Newry this season and watched them play since and it is clear Darren already has a very strong side together. I have been involved in a few training sessions already and it’s been great so I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead and am ready for the battle.”

Mark Kelly commented “Delighted to have signed for the club and getting the chance to play under Darren and his coaching staff. From my short time having met the lads there’s a great atmosphere amongst the squad and an abundance of quality here. From previous experience of playing against Newry they have always worked extremely hard and played an attractive brand of football. I’m looking forward to playing a part in that between now and the end of the season.”

 

Both transfers are subject to confirmation when the transfer window opens.

Photograph Courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.

Christmas Draw Tickets on sale

Newry City AFC Christmas Draw tickets are now on sale.

1st prize: 55″ LED Smart 4K Ultra HD TV
2nd prize: £100 note
3rd prize: Flagstaff Lodge Voucher
4th prize: Paddy Power Voucher

Tickets are priced at £1 each or a book of 6 for £5 and can be bought from any committee member. Tickets will also be on sale on matchday this Saturday at the Showgrounds

NCAFC Visit to Daisy Hill Childrens Ward

Players, management and staff of Newry City AFC paid their annual visit to the children’s ward of Daisy Hill hospital along with Santa yesterday afternoon.

They were delighted to be able to bring some Christmas cheer to children and their parents in the ward along with entertaining the nursing staff with the Champions League Trophy.

We would like to thank our Chairman Martin McLoughlin & Gerard Rice from Around A Pound for their help and generosity with this event.

On behalf of the club we would like to wish all the children and all the patients a speedy recovery and we are sure Santa won’t forget them on Christmas Day.

 

 

 

 

 

Photographs Courtesy of Tony Bagnall

Blast from the Past: Ollie Ralph hits brace in Ulster Cup win

Newry’s all-time top goalscorer Ollie Ralph. Photo courtesy of The Belfast Telegraph.

Ollie Ralph scored some amazing goals for Newry Town and few were better than the two he registered in this TNT Gold Cup Tie against visiting side Ards at The Showgrounds on Saturday 31st August 1985.

Match report culled from The Ireland’s Saturday Night

Newry showing five changes from the side dismissed from the Ulster Cup by B League Dundela heartened their fans by winning this Gold Cup opener in comfortable fashion.

The Town’s first score came from a corner forced by Joey Cunningham. Jervis McCaul crossed and Ollie Ralph smashed a terrific strike past a helpless Trevor McDowell in 18 minutes.

John Whitten returning after injury hit Newry’s second in the 32nd minute, following a series of passes between Anthony Marron, Ollie Ralph and Joey Cunningham.

This was followed six minutes later by an absolute rocket from Anthony Marron. Keeper McDowell fisted out a corner kick from Jervis McCaul and Marron blasted the ball home from 25 yards range.

Then Ralph showing a brilliant turn of foot ran on to McCaul’s precision pass, beat central defender Ronnie Mudd, side stepped Keeper McDowell and superbly tucked the ball into the corner of the net in the 41st minute.

Ards broke away on the right flank and Alan Doran’s good cross was neatly side footed in by Raymond Hill on the 42nd minute mark.

Ards pressed strongly after the restart and when Stephen Baxter was fouled in the box by Tom Hughes, the same player converted the resultant penalty after 49 minutes.

Disaster hit Ards after 56 minutes when John Hewitt was booked by referee Norman Loughlins for upending Anthony Marron and was sent off for dissent. Four minutes later another Ards player Ian Brown found himself in the referees notebook for taking down Joey Cunningham.

Towards the close Ralph outpaced the Ards rearguard but his rising drive crashed against the crossbar rebounding into safety.

Ards came back strongly in the closing minutes but Town defenders Terry Buchanan and John Cinnamond were solid and kept them at bay.

Result: Newry Town 4 (Ralph 2, Whitten and Marron) – Ards 2 ( Hill and Baxter)

Man of The Match: Ollie Ralph

Newry Town: Harding, Morrow, Cinnamond, Buchanan, Hughes, Ralph, Cunningham, Marron, Whitten, McCaul and Fay.
Sub: Fearon.

Referee: Norman Loughlins

Blast from the Past: Town impress in Irish Cup

By Jim Campbell

The 1956/57 season was an exciting period for The Town when the club qualified to participate in The Irish Cup for the first time since 1939/40 by reaching the semi final stage of The Irish Intermediate Cup.

Newry had beaten Banbridge Town, Glentoran 2nds, and Dunmurry Rec on their way to meeting Linfield Swifts in the semi final. But undoubtedly Newry’s best display of the season came in the 3rd Rd of the competition against a much fancied Glentoran 2nds at Windsor Park.

Glentoran 2nds 0 – 3 Newry Town  

Glentoran forced the pace at the start and The Town’s defence was kept busy, however Newry gradually settled down and Glens keeper Boat got down to deflect a strong drive from from Pat Curtis. At the other end Pa Mooney held a real thunderbolt from the lurking Trevor Thompson.

Newry continued to attack, with Stevie Mallon and Pat Curtis combining brilliantly but Boat advanced quickly to save from the latter. Then Truesdale, The Glens centre, half robbed Jimmy Edgar as he was about to shoot.

The Glens broke away as Leeman created an opening for Fraser to Blast into the net, but fortunately for The Town the score was ruled out for offside.

Half Time: Scoreless

Newry went all out for a goal at the beginning of the second half and the pace was very fast. There was little between the teams but The Town seemed more dangerous in attack and this was proved after 15 minutes of the half when Edgar bulldozed his way through and Curtis netted brilliantly from an acute angle – much to the delight of the big Town support.

Newry piled on the pressure and Billy Hewitt beat three defenders in an amazing dribble but Gerry Robinson shot wide from close range. In a retaliatory Glentoran raid, Stanley Kidd saved the situation with a terrific block but was injured in the process and had to go off for several minutes to receive treatment.

The excitement was mounting as both sides attacked in turn but Newry, after 30 minutes of the half, got a crucial second goal when the hard working Stevie Mallon put Pat Curtis through to score.

The Town were now on top and Billy Hewitt rammed in a third goal to complete a great performance.

Newry Town: Pa Mooney, Stanley Kidd, Davy Jamison, Billy Flanagan, Jackie Bowers, Alec Reid, Pat Curtis, Stevie Mallon, Jimmy Edgar, Gerry Robinson, and Billy Hewitt.

Verdict

This was a magnificent performance from The Town. Of the players in Saturday’s game, all gave their best. Pa Mooney was very safe in goal. Stanley Kidd, after a rest, returned to his best form. Davy Jamison was sound at left back. Billy Flanagan was a constructive half back and he received great support from Alec Reid who was making a welcome reappearance after injury. Jackie Bowers, the Newry Captain played the game of his life at centre half blotting out the ever dangerous Trevor Thompson who had been scoring goals by hat-tricks every Saturday. Pat Curtis at outside right was very fast and direct. His two goals were brilliant efforts. Stevie Mallon put in a lot of work both in defence and attack as did Gerry Robinson. Jimmy Edgar was well held at centre forward but his constant roaming did a lot to unsettle the Glens defence and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet. Billy Hewitt played his best ever game for Newry and his dribbling skills were superb.