Newry Manager Darren Mullen commented on Graemes departure, “Graeme is a player that we will all be sad to see leave the club. He has been there right from the very start of our revival and has played his part in our return to Irish league football.

Like his father and grandfather before him he always gave nothing less than 100% when playing in a Newry jersey. No matter what position I played him in he did it without fuss or complaint and has been a model professional in terms of his attitude and commitment. We wish him well in the remainder of his football career and he will always be very welcome back at The Showgrounds.”

Newry City Reserves maintained their Championship challenge with a 8-1 victory over Banbridge Rangers at The Showgrounds on Saturday. Fielding a strong team with several players with first team experience the Newry boys went a goal up with only a minute on the clock, Sean McMullan holding the ball up in the box waiting on the arrival of Ryan Quinn who drilled his shot across the Rangers keeper Bradley Hughes into the far corner of the net. Scoring so early may have caused the home side to switch off but whatever the cause they were made to play for a lapse in concentration at the back minutes later when a long direct ball was allowed to bounce through towards the Newry goal, William Davidson quick to capitalise giving Kieran Gordon little chance with a clinical finish to bring his side level.

On 20 minutes a similar ball once more beat the Newry rear guard, this time Gordon was quickly off his line to snuff out any danger. That was as good as it got for Rangers with Newry virtually dominating the rest of the game, the only moot point being how many they would win by.

Goal number two almost came straight away, a Quinn shot from outside the box was blocked by Rangers keeper Hughes, Jordan King alive to the loose ball but unable to force the rebound over the line.

Newry did not have long to wait to take the lead, 24 minutes on the clock when neat passing between Cian Feehan, King and McMullan resulted in the ball falling to Paulis Smaryginas who almost bust the net with a pile driver from the middle of the penalty area. And goal number three came on the half hour mark, Chris McMahon who in trademark fashion worked tirelessly throughout, took the ball from the half way line before finding McMullan on the edge of the box, the big man twisting to make room before picking out the bottom corner of the Banbridge net for his first of the day.

Strangely that’s how the score line stayed for the next half hour as it took until the 60 minute mark for Newry to grab goal number four, patient passing across the edge of the Rangers penalty area halted by Timmy Grant when he picked the wide running Jordan Coyle, his low curling cross falling perfectly for McMullan arriving at the back post to side foot the ball into the net. 63 minutes and it was five, McMahon once more finding McMullan inside the box, McMullan feigning to shoot before slipping a pass to King arriving on his left, Kings shot hitting the underside of the crossbar and appearing to bounce behind the line, any doubt removed by Coyle who blasted the rebound into the net. McMullan claimed his hat trick on 75 minutes from the penalty spot after his flicked pass had set Sheelan Fegan through on goal, the Newry youngster denied a shooting opportunity by a cynical pull on the jersey. And Fegan was to play a major part in goal number seven, picking the ball up inside his own half before finding Coyle on half way, his incisive pass giving Smaryginas a race with a Rangers defender which the Newry man won before smashing a first time shot from outside the box into the top corner of the net for a picture goal.

The eigth and final goal came after 82 minutes, McMahon clearing a Rangers corner to Marty Havern who set off from outside his own box powering past tackles as he made his way the length of the pitch before swapping passes with McMullan and picking his spot past Hughes for goal number eight. After the match Newry manager Gary Redpath was in his own words happy enough with his team “On a sticky pitch we were decent but never really got into our fast passing rhythm. However, we were better in the second half and scored some cracking goals. I was pleased to see Chris McMahon getting back to fitness, he covered just about the whole pitch and kept the boys going the whole game. Obviously Sean McMullan gives us a great target to hold the ball up, bring others into play and score goals. Young Shealan Fegan also looks that wee bit different every time you see him play and in the half hour he was on he had a big hand in a few goals.

Newry City Reserves Team: Kieran Gordon, Jordan King, Johnny Brown, Neil Mullen, Ryan Quinn, Chris McMahon, Jordan Coyle, Timmy Grant, Paulis Smaryginas, Cian Feehan, Sean McMullan. Subs: Marty Havern, Gavin Conn, Sean Mooney, Shealan Fegan, Brian Hobden.

Photographs courtesy of NML Football https://www.facebook.com/pg/NMLSport/photos/?tab=album&album_id=759566227533755

Newry City missed the opportunity to go top of the Premier Intermediate League table on Thursday night losing 2-1 to Belfast side Newington in a rearranged league fixture. Ultimately it was the concession of a penalty kick in each half which did the damage but in truth the Newry boys were unable to reach the level of performance which saw them win their three previous games, a fact which frustrated manager Darren Mullen “This was a chance missed not only to move into top spot but to consolidate our position within the top six. The disappointing thing is that the players were told exactly how Newington would play and they still didn’t deal with it in the first half. They were the better side in the first half without creating many chances but we struggled to get any rhythm in our play and were fortunate to go in level at the break. We were a lot better in the second half and looked like we wanted to win the game. We moved the ball a lot better and had the movement off the ball that was badly lacking in the first half. It’s a game we could have won even without playing at our best but their keeper pulled off two super saves to deny us a result. Unfortunately, we have been beaten by what can only be described as two very soft penalties. It’s our first league defeat in 5 games so there’s no need to panic. This league throws up unexpected results on a weekly basis and with 33 points left to play for we are still right in the mix.”

With the Newry boys expecting a physical game Newington let them know early on that they were not about to disappoint, both midfielders Joe McDonnell and Ronan Brannigan booked inside the opening 10 minutes for robust tackles. And it was Newington who were first to test either keeper, Sean McAuley swinging a dangerous free kick into the Newry box which Kieran Gordon, making his Newry debut, expertly dealt with. From this possession Gordon set up Newry’s first goal scoring chance, a long ball over the Newington defence allowing Keith Johnston to get goal side of the defence before taking a tumble inside the box, referee MacDonald waving away Newry claims for a penalty. Unfortunately for Newry, MacDonald took a different view of a tame challenge on Newington’s Conal Burn’s after 20 minutes inside the Newry penalty area, immediately pointing for a penalty kick which Burn’s calmly placed in the bottom corner of Gordons goal to put the home side a goal up. Newry had a half chance to draw level almost immediately, Mark Hughes setting Jimmy Walker up with a shooting opportunity on the edge of the penalty area, Walkers curling shot going the wrong side of the Newington post. A clever free kick almost caught Newry out after 35 minutes, with Newry expecting a cross, a direct ball down the touch line allowed Burns behind the Newry defence, Gordon forced to dive amongst incoming boots to smother the crossed ball. With five minutes remaining in the half and perhaps against the run of play Newry drew level, Mark Patton and Ian Curran challenging for a Johnston corner, the ball falling for Decky Carville who wasted no time blasting the loose ball high into the Newington net to leave the sides level at the break.

With the boost of a late equalizer in the first half Newry started the second much better, with only 3 minutes on the clock Johnston picked out the late run of Hughes into the box with a diagonal cross, Newington’s Stephen Brennan doing well to deflect the ball behind for a corner with Hughes about to pull the trigger. At the other end Paddy Mooney was called into action to deal with a dangerous ball into the Newry danger area. Indeed Mooney was called upon on several occasions to quell any threat to the Newry goal before the visitors had a great chance of their own, Curran lobbing a precise ball over the Newington defence, into the path of Thomas McCann, McCann spotting that Dean Smyth had left his goal line most unfortunate not to get enough elevation on the ball, Smyth stretching to save. Newry had a mighty let off after 65 minutes, Newington substitute Daniel White making room to cross from the right wing perfect for the unmarked Padraig Scollay who planted his header over the Newry crossbar with the goal at his mercy.

The let off was temporary however, with 70 minutes on the clock referee MacDonald once more saw fit to award Newington a spot kick judging that a Newry player had pushed his opponent as they jostled for a corner. Once again Burns stepped up, this time Gordon was unfortunate, getting his finger tips to the ball but unable to stop its path into the bottom corner to restore the home sides advantage. With 10 minutes left Newington were reduced to 10 men when substitute Stephen Sullivan received a straight red after an altercation with Curran. A goal down and a numerical advantage Newry pushed for the equalizer. With 10 minutes left Curran once again pitched the ball over the Newington defence for Johnston to swing a cross to the near post, Carville’s glancing header tipped over the crossbar by Smyth. And with time running out the Newry support thought that Hughes had grabbed a point with a stoppage time equalizer, his low shot appearing destined for the bottom corner of the Newington net, Smyth somehow getting across goal to turn the ball around the post. And there was still time for a last chance Stephen McCabe drilling a low cross into the box, Marcus McKeown’s shot on the turn flying wide and with it Newry’s fleeting chance to grab the top of the table spot.  

Newry’s next match is a home league fixture on Saturday next, the 25^th February at The Showgrounds, kick off 3pm.

Newry City AFC: Gordon, McArdle, McCabe, Mooney, Curran, Walker, Patton, McCann, Carville, Johnston, Hughes. Subs: Boyle, McMullan, Grant, King, McKeown.

At this stage of the season it’s all about gaining league points and on Saturday Newry City secured another three at The Showgrounds with a professional if uninspiring performance against Queens. Some credit for that however must go to the visitors as for the second week in a row Newry found their well organised opponents difficult to break down, the home side with virtually all the possession in the opening 25 minutes but limited to speculative efforts from outside the box apart from one good chance for Mark McCabe who forced a fine save from Conor Lally with a half volley when well placed by Thomas McCann.

Although deserved, Newry’s opening goal owed a little to the weather, Lally’s clearance knocked down by the wind to Jimmy Walker before it got over the half way line. From there however Newry were clinical, Walker making ground before playing the ball wide to Keith Johnston, Johnston wasting no time before curling a low cross into the box for McCabe to slide onto diverting the ball expertly into the roof of the Queens net to put Newry a goal up.

Chances were thin on the ground for the rest of the half, Ian Curran unlucky with a glancing header from a Walker corner while Queens spurned a half chance to equalize with the half almost up, Matt Hughes with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area which Peter Murphy pushed wide of the Newry goal, Nathan Jones first to the rebound, but finding Murphy quickly back to his feet to narrow the target, shooting high and wide.

It was all Newry at the start of the second half, a goal scoring opportunity coming almost straight from the kick off, McCann splitting the Queens defence with a pass which left Johnston with Lally to beat, the Queens keeper quickly off his line to save. Newry came even closer to grabbing goal number two on 55 minutes, Kevin McArdle getting forward to place a cross to the near post which Mark Hughes won, unfortunate to see his downward header hit the base of the post.

The hosts had a big let off on the hour mark, a long ball straight down the pitch causing confusion between goalkeeper and defenders, Newry fortunate that the loose ball did not fall to a Queens player before being hacked clear.

The home side sealed the points on 70 minutes with a second McCabe goal, Hughes laying the ball into the path of the over lapping Stephen McCabe, on the run McCabe swung a pin point cross to the near post perfect for McCabe to rise highest at the near post to head into the top corner for his and Newry’s second and final goal.

‘This was a solid if unspectacular win and continues our good run of form. It’s fair to say Queens didn’t cause us many problems but in games where we have plenty of possession our final ball needs to better. That was the case in the first half although the conditions didn’t help either side. I made a few changes to the team and the shape which made us look a lot more solid defensively. Getting the clean sheet was pleasing as it’s something we have been emphasising in recent weeks. Mark McCabe is starting to fulfil his potential and has been leading the line superbly in recent games. That said he will be the first to acknowledge the work the lads do in behind him to create his chances. We have put ourselves back in the mix for a top six position but know how quickly things can change and the game against Newington this Thursday will be a good test for us.’

Newry’s next match is on Thursday 16^th Feb against Newington, kick off at 7.45pm at Seaview, Shore Rd, Belfast. Newry City travel club bus will leave The Stonebridge at 6.15pm.

Newry City AFC: Murphy, S McCabe, McArdle, Curran, Mooney, Patton, Walker, McCann, M McCabe, Johnston, Hughes. Subs: Carville, Grant, McKeown, Taylor, King

Queens: Lally, Plant, Gibson, Harper, McManus, Hannon, Tumilty, Keenan, Rooney, Jones, Hughes. Subs: Orr, Keenen, O’Hare, Briers, Brown.

Photographs Courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.