A late equalizer for Harland & Wolff Welders denied Newry City all 3 points at The Showgrounds on Friday night. And while the Welders game plan to stop Newry’s big players from playing ultimately worked Newry will look back with frustration not only at the chances which they wasted but also at how they conceded that equalizer in the final seconds of injury time.
The result however brings Newry’s unbeaten run to six games and that was the message which manager Darren Mullen preferred to major on as his depleted squad prepares for next Fridays game at Loughall “’It feels like a defeat to be honest due to the nature of how we conceded but when the dust settles we have to try to take the positives and that’s six games now we are unbeaten. We were poor in the first half and didn’t play anywhere near as well as we can.
The second half was a lot better and we should have had the game killed off with the chances we had. Credit to Harland and Wolff who came with a game plan to contain us and never gave up, so we have to take it on the chin and learn from it. I gave the players a bit of a rollicking at the end but we are missing six defenders at the minute some lads playing out of position, so I can’t be too harsh on them. They have been brilliant for me and I know they will carry their own disappointment into next week’s game where they will want to get back to winning ways.”
With Newry never really getting into their stride the visitors were the first to threaten either goal after 15 minutes, Newry requiring important interventions from Stephen Hughes and Marcus McKeown to cut out successive Welders attacks. In reply Newry had a momentary glimpse of goal after 20 minutes, Thomas McCann releasing Keith Johnston with a long pass, Johnston’s first touch taking him clear of the Welders defence, the striker electing to pull the ball back from a wide angle rather than shoot, his pass intercepted by William Armstrong. Newry’s best chance of the half came on 35 minutes, a weak clearance from the Welders finding Stephen Hughes on the edge of the box, Hughes controlling the ball with his first touch before volleying across goal with his second, the ball clipping the outside of the far post with Welders keeper Robert Robinson stranded.
While Newry were better in the second half clear chances were still thin on the ground although they did conjure up a glorious goal scoring opportunity on the hour mark. Starting from Decky Carville in his own half the ball was swept wide to Johnston. In turn he pulled the ball back into the path of Jimmy Walker who curled the ball to the back post finding Mark Hughes who slammed his header onto the underside of the crossbar, the clearance completed by the Welders defence. With 72 minutes on the clock Newry eventually got the break through.
Once more it was Johnston who got clear of his marker, his cross to the back post turned back into the danger area by Carville finding Walker who picked out the corner of the Welders goal to put Newry a goal up.
aving made the break through Newry spurned a series of half chances to make the points safe and in the final attack of the game paid the ultimate price, the Welders pushing men forward in search of an equaliser, lady luck coming their way when defender William Armstrong’s hopeful ball into a heavily congested Newry box cannoned into the chest of a Newry player and rebounded into the Newry net to level the scores.
Newry now turn their attention to Friday nights league match away to Loughall, Kick off 7:45pm. Newry City travel club bus will leave The Stone Bridge at 6:30pm.
Newry City AFC: Maguire, King, M Hughes, Mooney, McKeown, McCann, Walker, Carville, McCabe, S Hughes, Johnston. Subs: Havern, Cunningham, Richmond, Irwin, Crooks.
And so the winning run off games for Newry continues but as usual manager Darren Mullen takes it one game at a time “This was a superb performance from start to finish and a result that certainly didn’t flatter us. The work rate of the players as well as the quality was a joy to watch and each and every one of them deserve massive credit. I thought we should have had a penalty before they scored against the run of play but we then reacted in the right manner. They couldn’t handle our pace and movement with our second goal summing up everything good about how we play. The message at half time was to get at them again but knew they would have moments of possession. We just needed to keep our shape and be ready to hit them on the break when in possession which we did on numerous occasions. Our style of play is physically demanding and involves a serious of work both in and out of possession but I couldn’t have been prouder of how the lads carried out our tactics. What we have is a bunch of lads who are putting in a serious shift and playing for each other. The squad is still thin on the ground due to injuries but that’s an opportunity for some of the young lads to take their chance and it was pleasing to be able to give Leigh Crooks his Irish League debut. We are on a good run but there’s it’s a long season and we will just focus on the next game now. A final word for our fans who turned out in numbers and their support was greatly appreciated.”
“The message to those players coming in was to give me a headache for Friday night’s game and they certainly did that. We knew Dungannon would have spells of possession, but we just needed to maintain our shape and then punish them in the right areas. Defensively we were very solid and limited to them to very little in terms of clear cut chances. At the other end only for two brilliant saves from Andy Coleman we could have won by more but I’m more than happy with the 1 0 win. That’s four wins in a row and sets us up for another difficult game this Friday night but one that we are looking forward to.”
Newry’s reply came from Thomas McCann, bringing the ball out of his own half to the edge of the Dungannon penalty area before trying his luck with the outside of his foot, the ball always curling the wrong side of the post. On the half hour mark it was the home side again going close, Dungannon failing to properly clear a free kick, Darren King shooting over from an acute angle.
With the rain refusing to stop the second half was played in increasingly sloppy conditions. That however didn’t stop an end to end game with the teams swopping similar chances in the opening minutes, Boyle again getting his head to a dangerous ball into the box while minutes later it was Dermot McCaffrey cutting out a super ball from Johnston to the back post with Marcus McKeown waiting. The visitors began to enjoy a period of possession but were simply unable to make any inroads against a stubborn Newry defence. And with the Swifts heavily committed forward it was the home side who next troubled the keeper, Carville and Johnston setting up the industrious Marty Havern to shoot across goal, Coleman diving to push the ball wide.
The home side were however were far from finished and with Stephen Hughes introduced from the bench and still full of running Coleman was to be called into action in the final minutes, first to stop a pile driver from Hughes from 30 yards which appeared destined for the top corner were it not for a top drawer save from the Swifts keeper. That pair were to do battle again in the final minutes, Carville holding play on the edge of the box before slipping the ball into the path of Hughes who’s first shot on the run was blocked by Coleman, Hughes first to the rebound only to find Coleman back on his feet to make a second save to leave the final score 1-0 to Newry.