Newry City made it through to the Quarter Final of the Mid Ulster Cup and a home tie against Premiership side Dungannon Swifts on Tuesday night at a packed Showgrounds but it took 120 minutes of football against Windmill Stars before the pressure finally told, Newry running out 4-1 winners after extra time.

Had it been a boxing match the tie would have been done and dusted by half time with Newry missing a host of chances. That said it looked as though Windmill would go into the half time break in the lead thanks to a goal from ex-Warrenpoint Town and Newry striker Sean McMullan who gave the visitors the lead on 23 minutes with a typical goal scorers close range finish. Either side of McMullan’s goal a mixture of some poor shooting, a bit of bad luck with Marty Havern smacking a shot of the Windmill crossbar and some fine saves from another ex-Newry man Peter Murphy left Newry with nothing to show from the majority of possession. That changed in first half stoppage time, Declan Carville releasing Kevin McArdle wide on the right, McArdle’s pull back pass finding Keith Johnston unmarked and this time the wee man made no mistake picking out the bottom left hand corner of the Windmill net to level the scores at half time.

While Newry again dominated play in the second half goal chances were more evenly shared, indeed on breaks up field it was Windmill who perhaps created the best opportunities, clever play from Jody McGovern setting up Ruairi Devlin for a strike on goal, Stephen Maguire safely dealing with the shot. At the other end Murphy again came to his sides rescue diving full length to tip a Jimmy Walker free kick around the post. And with 10 minutes remaining Newry had a real scare, the ball bouncing around the home box finally falling to Joe McLoughlin who blasted his shot towards goal, Newry saved by a brave block from Thomas McCann ensuring the game went to extra time.

Having started with a game plan to nullify Newry’s passing game through sheer hard work coupled with the fact that Windmill have become used to plying their trade on the artificial surface at Armagh City the Windmill players were visibly tiring on the Showgrounds grass pitch and extra time always looked likely to be an uphill battle for them and so it proved with Newry’s superior fitness finally paying off in the first period of extra, Walker playing a one two with Mark McCabe before drilling a low shot into the bottom corner of the Windmill net from the edge of the penalty area. Minutes later and the tie was over, Paul Mallon pitching a ball from deep in his own half perfect for McCabe to run onto before spotting that Murphy had strayed from his line and striking a dipping shot from all of 40 yards over the keeper and into the Windmill net to put Newry 3-1 ahead. Newry rounded off the scoring three minutes into the second period, Stephen Hughes sliding a through ball for McCabe to run onto, the Newry centre forward rounding Murphy before slotting the ball home from a tight angle. 

So in the end a three goal margin for Newry but it was a somewhat relieved manager Darren Mullen who spoke after the game “This was a game we made a lot more difficult than it should have been due to some wayward finishing. Windmill had a game plan and deserve great credit for the work they put in trying to stop us playing. We had the lion’s share of possession throughout but were far too slow in our approach play especially in the first half. It was written that Mully would score against us but we had more than enough chances to finish the game in normal time. The longer the game went on our superior fitness told and we were able to punish them with some really good finishes. We know we can play a lot better but our squad is threadbare at the minute and those that could do with a rest aren’t getting it. Hopefully we can get some players back for this weekend for what will be another difficult game against Institute”

Goal keeping is an unforgiving position where mistakes are magnified many times and so it was for Newry’s keeper Kieran Gordon on Friday night against Portadown. A calamitous start for Gordon after only three minutes when he allowed the tamest of shots from Chris Lavery to squirm between his hands and legs and trickle over the line to put the visitors a goal up.

To compound matters five minutes into the second half history was to repeat itself. Once again it was Lavery, this time from a hotly disputed free kick on the edge of the penalty area.

And again there looked to be little threat to the Newry goal as Gordon got down on one knee to collect a weak effort only for the unthinkable to happen for a second time as the ball slipped under his body and trickle over the line for a goal which Newry never recovered from.

Between these goals Newry were the better team. With 18 minutes gone they came close to scoring when Decky Carvilles low shot rattled off the base of John Connollys post, Adam McCallan beating Mark McCabe in a race for the rebound.

The home side drew level on the half hour mark from a rehearsed corner routine, Keith Johnston playing a short corner with Mark Hughes before whipping in a near post cross for which John Boyle rose highest to punch his header into the back of the net. Newry almost grabbed a deserved lead before the break, Kevin McArdle and Carville working an opportunity for Johnston, the winger shooting across goal with the outside of his right foot, Connolly diving full length to tip the ball around the post.

If Newry had the better of the first half Portadown showed their intent from the start of the second, the half minutes old when Stefan Lavery was most unfortunate to hit the junction of post and crossbar with a curling shot from outside the box with Gordon beaten. The game, however, was over as a contest before the hour mark. Following on from Lavery’s second goal on 50 minutes, the manner of which was a particularly cruel body blow to the Newry team, any chance of a Newry comeback was extinguished by a moment of quality from Peter Duffin on 58 minutes, dancing through successive Newry tackles on the edge of the box before drilling a low shot past Gordon to put Portadown 3-1 up.

On 78 minutes the visitors added gloss to the scoreline, Adam Salley getting behind the Newry defence, his shot parried by Gordon but only as far as Kevin Amuneke who fired home through a crowd of players from 15 yards to seal a miserable evening for Newry.

Next Saturday, Newry City travel to Harland & Wolff Welders the Newry City Travel club will be departing from the Stonebridge at 1pm sharp all are welcome.

Newry City AFC: Gordon, McArdle, Cunningham (Havern 68), Mullen (Patton 8), Boyle, McCann, S Hughes, Carville, McCabe, Johnston (Walker 77), M Hughes

Subs not used: Mackin, Mallon

Portadown: Connolly, Carson, Brennan, McCallan, McVey, Kilmartin, McCullough, Hazley (Duffin 31), S Lavery (Amuneke 70), C Lavery, Salley (Holmes 84)

Subs not used: Larkin, Henderson

Photographs Courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.

We are delighted to announce the return of the Match Day Programme at the Showgrounds, with the first edition available to purchase for just £1 at the crucial Bluefin Sport Championship game against Portadown at the Showgrounds tomorrow evening. 

To get you in the mood for the big game, here is a sneak preview of Shed Ender’s thoughts on the fixture, just one of the articles available to read in the Programme tomorrow night.

Friends Reunited, by Shed Ender

Supporting Newry has always been something of a rollercoaster, but nothing quite prepared us for the ups and downs of recent years. From going out of business, to a rebirth in Mid Ulster Intermediate B, it’s perhaps easy to forget the progress that the club have made in recent years. Starting with, literally, a blank canvas, Darren Mullen has guided the club to three promotions in just four seasons and Newry are now back playing Championship football. Lest we forget, this is the level from which we exited stage left when going out of business in 2012.

If anyone was likely to take that for granted, this evening’s game should really signpost how far we have come in a short space of time. Neighbours Portadown are back in town for what feels like something of a landmark game for Newry. The visitors have not been without their own troubles, both on and off the field, in recent times and they’ll be keen to get themselves back to the top tier as soon as possible. Strongly tipped to secure promotion this season, this feels like a proper ‘big’ game. Bourneview it isn’t.

So, to borrow a title, here we are, and Newry and Portadown rekindle a longstanding rivalry this evening. Many of these games have been played at the top level, with the Ports lifting the league title in the not too distant past. There’s usually a decent sized crowd which helps to add to the sense of occasion.

Most of you will have your own favourite memories of this fixture. Ports fans will remember a time when Vinny Arkins seemed to score in pretty much every game between the sides. If he didn’t, it certainly felt like it at the…..Did you enjoy reading this article? Read the full piece and much more in the Programme tomorrow night!

A goal from Mark McCabe was enough to secure a valuable point for Newry City away at table topping Ballyclare Comrades on Saturday. Having failed to find the net in Newry’s first four games Newry’s centre forward will hope that Saturdays goal will kick start his goal tally for the season. As it is, McCabe’s goal was the perfect answer to the opening goal of the game which came just two minutes earlier, Newry failing to deal with a corner allowing the ball to bounce inside the six-yard box, Ballyclare grateful for the indecision smashing the ball into the roof of the Newry net. It was however the way his team reacted which will have pleased Newry manager Darren Mullen “After playing so well and then to concede a poor goal heads could have gone down but in fairness that didn’t happen and we came back at them almost immediately. Apart from the goal this was a very good performance from start to finish. We had done our homework on Ballyclare and knew they had threats throughout their team so we changed our shape accordingly. For a team that scored six goals last week we restricted them to very little and a draw was the least we deserved. We could have been two up in the first ten minutes but it then became a game of limited chances. I criticised the players for their lack of effort against PSNI but we can have no complaints with how they performed today. We have been finding our feet in this league but are enjoying every minute and now look forward to the home game against Portadown on Friday night.”

Certainly, there was no lack of effort from Newry on Saturday, McCabe close to snatching the lead in the first minute running onto a through ball from Stephen Hughes before lobbing his shot over the advancing Ballyclare keeper, unfortunate to see the ball land the wrong side of the far post. Almost immediately Newry had a second chance to open the scoring, Kevin McArdle pushing forward to release McCabe, his whipped cross turned on goal by Hughes bringing a smart save from Geoff McKinty.

Apart from the Ballyclare goal Newry’s only lapse in an otherwise solid defensive display came after ten minutes, a long high ball into the Newry box allowed to bounce, Ballyclare’s Thomas Robinson latching onto the loose ball only to scuff his shot badly wide. With 35 minutes on the clock Newry were convinced they should have been awarded a penalty, McCabe clearly tugged back by a Ballyclare defender as he chased down a back pass to McKinty, referee Mark Dillon receiving little help from his assistant to spot the offence.

The home side really only threatened the Newry goal from set pieces and with five minutes gone of the second half it took a smart diving save from Kieran Gordon to deny Samuel Mcilveen from a free kick just outside the penalty area. On 70 minutes Newry were handed an opportunity to take the lead when they were awarded an indirect free kick when McKinty handled a back pass, the eleven man Ballyclare wall on the goal line forcing Decky Carville to aim high with his shot which unfortunately flew over the crossbar.

Minutes later Ballyclare grabbed that opening goal, a corner from the right headed back into the box and with hesitancy amongst the Newry players Ballyclare’s Chris Rodgers accepted the opportunity to give Gordon little chance from close range. The Newry reply was almost immediate, Stephen Hughes carrying the ball forward before finding Carville on the left of the Ballyclare penalty area, with only one thing on his mind Carville stepped inside before curling his shot across goal, unlucky to see it canon off the post with McKinty beaten but fortunately for Newry McCabe was switched onto the chance, following into the box as a goal scorer should, perfectly place to turn the rebound into an open goal.

With time running out the home side pushed for a winner but with John Boyle and Neil Mullen clearing everything that came their way the only moment of danger came in the final minute when Michael O’Hanlon got behind the Newry defence, Gordon timing his slide perfectly to gather the ball at the winger’s feet.

Newry next game is on Friday night at The Newry Showgrounds against Portadown, Kick off 7:45pm.

Newry City AFC: Gordon, Cunningham, McArdle, Boyle, Mullen, McMahon, S Hughes, McCann, McCabe, Carville, M Hughes Subs: Walker, Johnston, Patton, Havern, Mackin