Newry City clinched a much-needed win under The Showgrounds lights on Friday night against Larne. A game of two halves but that is as close as the cliché gets to telling the true story of a game in which Newry dominated the first half but failed to make the most of the chances they created ending the half leading by a solitary goal.

The second half was a different story, the visitors drawing level straight after the break and dominating possession only to implode with time running out gifting a goal chance to Keith Johnston which the Newry man took with aplomb before Jimmy Walker sealed the points with a late third Newry goal.

In a game played under a constant downpour both sides attempted to play passing football with the home side getting the better of the opening exchanges, Decky Carville and Mark McCabe both with early attempts on goal. It did however take Newry until the 20^th minute before they tested the Larne goal keeper, Darren King arriving late at the back post to meet a Jimmy Walker corner with a powerful header, unfortunately straight into the mid drift of Conor Devlin. Newry were well on top and had the chance to grab the lead minutes later, Chris McMahon winning the ball outside the Larne box before spreading play wide to Stephen Hughes. In a flash Hughes whipped the ball to the back post finding Carville who took a touch to control, allowing Larne defender David Abe to get a crucial block.

In reply Larne had their best chance of the half, Conor Downey swinging the ball into the box, Darren Stuart heading back across the Newry goal missing the far post by inches. Newry were presented with the perfect opportunity to open the scoring on the half hour mark when Thomas McCann nipped in front of Larne’s Julian Anou in the race for a loose ball inside the Larne box, referee Wilson immediately pointing to the penalty spot as McCann tumbled. And although Stephen Hughes sent Devlin the wrong way with his spot kick the ball sailed the wrong side of the opposite post for another wasted chance.

The home side refused to let their heads drop and deservedly took the lead after 38 minutes, John Boyle who along with Darren King was impeccable in the centre of the Newry defence picked out Kevin McArdle wide on the right. With space to run into McArdle pushed forward before bending a cross behind the Larne defence for Carville who timed his run perfectly sliding the ball home from close range to leave Newry a goal to the good at the break.

That lead was not to last long as Larne came out with guns blazing and equalized with a super goal, Darren Stuart setting the ball perfectly into the path of left back Jerry Thompson who smacked the sweetest of low drives into the bottom corner of the Newry net to level the scores. Newry attempted to hit back almost immediately. From a corner Boyle recycled the ball at the back post to McCann, his cross narrowly headed wide by King.

It was now the turn of the visitors to knock at the Newry goal. On 65 minutes they looked have found the key when Thompson curled a super free kick into the Newry box which Daniel Reynolds got a boot to but was unable to steer the ball on target. Five minutes later and a similar scene was played out, this time Reynolds got his head to another Thompson cross, once more unable to hit the target. Newry were living dangerously relying heavily on the central defensive trio of Boyle McMahon and especially King to protect their goal. Behind them Stephen Maguire’s handling was sure and he was also called into action, first to smother a dipping drive from Ralph Kottey and then to push a shot up and over his cross bar.

With the game looking likely to end in stalemate Newry were gifted a chance on 83 minutes when the otherwise solid David Abe inexplicably attempted to pass the ball back from the half way line. While his pass was woefully short Keith Johnston was already alert to the opportunity quick to latch onto the loose ball knocking it around the advancing Larne goal keeper with his first touch before slotting the ball into the empty net to give Newry a slender advantage.

Larne were not finished and threw everything forward in search of an equalizer. They almost succeeded with time running out when Downey attempted to pick out Thompson at the back post, Jimmy Walker working hard to get back to help his defence heading the danger away under the crossbar. The Newry midfielder was rewarded for his hard work in stoppage time when, again with Larne heavily committed forward Newry broke out of defence, Stephen Hughes slipped the ball into the path of Walker as he crossed the half way line, Walker drawing the Larne keeper from his line before dinking a sublime chip into the back of the net to put some Newry gloss onto the score line.

Happy with the three points Newry manager Darren Mullen was clearly pleased with his players response “We demanded a reaction from the players after a poor performance last week and certainly got that in the first half. Our shape, movement and intensity of our play was exactly what was needed and we could have gone in more than 1 goal up at the break.

“The second half was a different affair and Larne can feel rightly aggrieved and not getting something out of the game. However we have had absolutely no luck so far this season in terms of decisions, injuries and playing well without getting results so I’ll gladly take these 3 points. Unlike last week there are plenty of positives to take from this game and the players certainly can’t be faulted for their effort or will to win. What we need to do is learn from the mistakes we made in the second half which we will work on in training this week and prepare for our trip to Limavady.”

Newry City now travel to Limavady on Saturday 8th October. Travel club bus will leave The Stonebridge at 12 noon.

Newry City AFC: Maguire, McArdle, M Hughes, Boyle, King, McMahon, Walker, McCann, McCabe, Carville, S Hughes. Subs: Johnston, Havern, Richmond, Irwin, McCullough.

Larne: Devlin, Fornah, Thompson, Abe, Bradley, Wilson, Kottey, Downey, Reynolds, Stuart, Anou. Subs: McLaren, McDonnell, Georgaklis, Henry.

Photos below of Match Day Mascot Cillian Rocks with the NCAFC Team.

Check out Newry Manager Darren Mullens interview on QRadio ahead of our match against Larne at the Showgrounds tomorrow night (Friday 29/09) KO7.45pm.

There’s not much going right for Newry City on the pitch at the moment and while they could point to some very questionable refereeing decisions on Saturday against Institute, one in particular from referee Declan Hassan which denied them a very obvious penalty, in truth the Newry boys aren’t doing themselves justice and even this early in the season face a very important game at home to bottom side Larne on Friday night.

Symptomatic of their season so far things were going much to plan for the first twenty minutes on Saturday until possession was lost in the middle of the park giving Aaron Harkin a free run to the edge of the Newry penalty area. From there Harkin tested the Newry keeper and although Maguire was able to parry Harkins shot Newry were unable to regain possession and when the ball came in from the right-wing indecision amongst the Newry players allowed Gareth Brown to latch onto the loose ball and give Maguire no chance from close range. In reply the home side had their first worthwhile attempt on goal after 25 minutes, Mark McCabe setting up Stephen Hughes who shot over from the edge of the box. Newry kept probing for the equalizer, on the half hour mark Thomas McCann and Decky Carville swapped passes before Carville also failed shot over the cross bar. The visitors had similar chances, the best coming on 40 minutes when Michael McCrudden tried his luck from outside the box, Maguire pushing the ball over his crossbar. Newry came closest to scoring with minutes remaining in the first half, McCann combining with Carville to give Marty Havern an opening on the left side of the penalty area, Havern choosing to shoot for the near post but able only to find the side netting which left Institute a goal up at half time.    

The second half opened a little brighter for Newry and they had an early opportunity to equalize, Kevin McArdle released Keith Johnston wide on the right, McCabe unable to get enough on to Johnston’s driven cross to trouble the Institute keeper. The visitors almost doubled their advantage after 55 minutes. Awarded a free kick some 25 yards from goal up stepped Harkin to clip a shot over the Newry wall, unfortunate to hit the inside of the post and ricochet across the goal line. On the hour mark Newry thought they had a way back into the game when McCabe was bundled over inside the box, the penalty decision appearing so obvious that referee Hassan‘s signal to play on was misinterpreted by many as him pointing to the penalty spot which compounded the injustice felt by the Newry following. From this point the game became fractious, Newry unable to shake off the penalty decision while Institute were more than happy to draw out every break in play ensuring that football wise the rest of the game was a non-event interrupted only by an odd flashpoint between players exacerbated by some curious refereeing decisions, all of which added up to a disappointing result for Newry.

Having started the season slowly Friday night’s game at home to Larne gives the Newry players an early chance to redeem themselves before a brace of games away from The Showgrounds, something which wasn’t lost on manager Darren Mullen after the game “This was a poor game and a poor performance from us. We looked heavy legged and lethargic for most of the game and as we’ve seen already in this league you pay the price for that.

Sometimes you can carry one or two players who aren’t performing but we weren’t good enough right throughout the team. That said we had an absolute stonewall penalty which everyone agreed with including the Institute management and players somehow not given.

That incident however doesn’t take away from our poor performance and Friday night’s game against Larne now takes on an even greater importance. We certainly won’t hide from what is a tough challenge for us this season and I’m looking forward to see how the players react.”

Newry’s next game is on Friday night at home to Larne, kick off at 7:45 pm

Newry City AFC: Maguire, McArdle, M Hughes, King, Boyle, McCann, S Hughes, Carville, McCabe, Johnston, Havern. Subs: Walker, Mullen, Richmond, Patton, Mallon.

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”