Newry City secured another three league points in a feisty encounter with Sport and Leisure Swifts at The Showgrounds on Saturday. Having gone behind to an early Sport and Leisure goal, and perhaps fortunate not to concede another, the home side eventually clicked into gear making good use of a numerical advantage after the visitors were reduced to nine men in the second half.

Leisure got off to the best possible start after five minutes when a long clearance was won in the air by Kevin Niblock, the ball falling perfectly for Martin Cunningham who volleyed first time past Newry keeper Peter Murphy. The visitors had a great chance to double that goal advantage minutes later when a goal kick was knocked straight back into the Newry box and with a home player attending to his laces deep inside his own half a loitering Leisure attacker was left with only Murphy to beat but lashed his effort wide of the goal.

It took Newry a full 15 minutes to have a strike on goal, Jimmy Walker playing the ball wide to Mark McCabe who tried his luck across goal with a speculative effort which did not trouble the Leisure keeper Michael Magill. Newry were now settling into the game and created a series of half chances right up to half time, the best of which being a volley from Man of the Match Decky Carville which also beat the post.

The first half was interrupted in the 25^th minute with the first flash point of the day, a shocking challenge from Cunningham, which was in stark contrast to his earlier skilful finish, cutting the legs from under Keith Johnston who was very fortunate that his shin pads saved him from injury, Cunningham also perhaps fortunate to only get a yellow card for the incident.

The second half was only minutes old when the game had its second flare up, Pierce Tully crashing into the chest of Newry’s Mark Patton with a high foot challenge which left the Newry man floored. While Patton was fortunate to escape serious injury this time referee David Kelly took the correct action showing Tully a straight red card. With that man advantage Newry continued to search for the equalizer which came on the hour mark, Walker creating room for himself wide on the right before pitching the ball over the heads of the Leisure defence landing perfectly to Carville who had peeled away to the back post now in position to place a shot into the bottom corner of the Leisure net to level the scores.

The visitor’s indiscipline was to further harm them on the hour mark when Carville closed down Stephen Tully as he attempted to play the ball out of defence, the ball breaking forward giving Carville a free run on goal only to be pulled down by Tully. Advised by his assistant Aaron Graham who had a perfect view of the incident, referee Kelly once more brandished his red card reducing the visitors to 9 men.

On 70 minutes Newry went ahead with a goal created by the McCabe brothers. From the left wing Mark used his pace to get behind the Leisure defence before pulling the ball back to the edge of the area where Gregory set up a shot for Walker, his effort partially blocked but only to that man Carville who made no mistake placing his shot wide of Magill.

It was now a game of keep ball for Newry seemingly content to hold onto the lead but that two man advantage was there to be exploited and without pushing men forward the home side added another two goals to their tally.

First on 85 minutes Carville assumed the role of provider skipping past a few challenges before laying a perfect pass into the path of Walker who also picked his spot inside the post for a precise finish. And with time almost up Newry grabbed goal number four, Jordan King pushing forward from left back pulling his cross back for Carville to all but claim his hat trick, his shot slamming off the base of the post, Sean McMullan the first to react to the rebound, his effort helped into the net by Sport and Leisure’s Ryan Burns for what will go down as an own goa to seal a 4-1 win for Newry.

 

Speaking after the game Newry’s Assistant Manager Ray Byrne was relieved to have secured the points “This was a fantastic result against a tough Sport & Leisure team. We conceded early after a slow start but in the second half we showed a maturity and calmness and were worthy winners. Mark Patton and Declan Carville were again outstanding as was Greg McCabe making his full debut. Momentum and confidence is vital for us and the players are working hard to maintain those high standards”

Next up for Newry is a home tie in the 2^nd round of the Intermediate Cup against Ballymena United Reserves on Saturday 19^th November, kick off 3pm.

Newry City AFC: Murphy, Gregory McCabe, McCaul, Mooney, King, Patton, Walker, Hughes, Carvile, Johnston, Mark McCabe. Subs; Havern, McMullan, Durnin, Coyle, Fegan.

Sport and Leisure Swifts: Magill, Larkin, McConnell, Burns, McMullan, Stephen Tully, Daly, Pierce Tully, Niblock, Glenholmes, Cunningham. Subs: Gallagher, Moore, Johnson, Ryan.

Photograph courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography

Newry City gained recompense for an Irish Cup exit to Newington with a clinical performance to seal all three points at The Showgrounds on Saturday. Newry manager Darren Mullen has repeatedly said that his player’s must learn every week if they are to progress in senior football and this fixture coming so soon after that 1^st of October defeat against Newington gave his player the perfect opportunity to show that they can meet his demands.

Clearly Mullen was pleased with Saturday’s reaction “This was a big win for us not only in terms of staying close to the top end of the table but also psychologically after our last game against Newington. After they beat us in the Irish cup we needed to learn our lesson in dealing with the physical side of the game and we certainly did that yesterday. We tweaked our shape and tactics which I thought worked perfectly and shows we can adapt to different systems of play. Our work rate was superb and left them frustrated at times with my only gripe being that we should have been a bit more composed in the final third.  That said it’s another three points and we will now work hard on the training pitch for the next two weeks in preparation for our next league game.”

While both sides swapped half chances in the opening stages, Kevin McArdle coming close for Newry while Conal Burns forced a smart save from Newry’s Peter Murphy, it was the home side who grabbed the important first goal after 15 minutes, Newington clearing a Mark Hughes corner to the edge of area from where Conor McCaul headed the ball back into the box, Neil Mullen with a deft flick helping it over his shoulder to ace marksman Decky Carville who controlled the ball on his chest with his first touch before swivelling to volley to the net with his second.

On the half hour mark with Newry down to ten men, to allow Carville receive treatment for a nasty cut after an accidental clash of heads, Newington had their best chance of the half, Richard Gowdy overlapping on the right wing swinging a cross into the Newry box for which Stephen Sullivan rose highest to power a header on goal bringing a smart reflex save from Peter Murphy who twisted in the air to tip the ball over his crossbar.

The home side had one more chance to add to the lead before the interval, Conor McCaul finding Carville midway inside the Newington half, Carville running at the defence before slipping the ball wide to Mark Hughes who pitched his shot for the far post alas not getting enough curl on his effort to bring it back inside the post.

The first chance of the second half came the visitor’s way, Conal Burn’s poaching at the near post but crowded out by Kevin McArdle who had tracked back to help his defence. And it was McArdle who created Newry’s next opening taking the ball from inside his own half to outside the Newington penalty area where he slid the ball wide to Carville who was most unlucky to see his shot crash off the underside of the crossbar.

Newry doubled their lead on 70 minutes and once more it was a corner kick which gave Newington the trouble, Mark Hughes delivering a pin point cross which Mark Patton, who was the home sides stand out player of the day, met on the run power his header in off the underside of the Newington crossbar. The visitors were not out of the game and had a chance of their own from a corner minutes later, Padraig Scollay drilling in a low cross which Patrick Pierce met with a first-time effort which flew over the top.

The home side wrapped the points up on 78 minutes in the simplest of fashion, Murphy collecting a Newington cross and with the visitors heavily committed forward the Newry custodian immediately delivered the ball forward with a perfect flightpath taking the Newington defence out of the game leaving Keith Johnston in a race for the loose ball with the visitors keeper Dean Smyth, a race the Newry speedster was always going to win, Johnston confident in his finishing ability choosing to shoot first time curling the ball around the advancing Smyth to put Newry 3-0 ahead.

Newington refused to give up and pulled a goal back on 86 minutes, the visitors taking a touch to a shift a free kick from the corner of the box to a central position from where Conal Burns drilled a low shot past a stranded Peter Murphy to reduce the arrears. And while Newington threw everything at the home side in the final minutes their efforts came to nothing as the Newry defence held firm to see out the win.

Man of the Match Sponsored by Hughes BET: Mark Patton

Newry City AFC: Murphy, Mooney, Mullen, McCaul, Patton, Hughes, McArdle, Carville, Johnston, M McCabe. Subs: McMahon, Havern, Walker, McMullan, Curran.

 Newington: Smyth, Gowdy, McAuley, Pierce, White, O’Neill, Quinn, McAuley, Burns, Sullivan, Doherty. Subs: Rafferty, Brannigan, Scollay.

  

Photographs courtesy of Brendan Monaghan Photography.

Newry City opened their Intermediate Cup campaign with a tricky tie at Fivemiletown United, a task they navigated successfully with a battling 2-1 victory.

The game was something of a slow burner, with a largely uneventful opening half hour, before a flurry of activity set the scene for an exciting second half.

Newry looked the more likely during the opening exchanges, but neither goalkeeper was unduly troubled until the 35th minute when Thomas McCann got on the end of a Sean McMullan knock down to fire in a shot which home keeper Adam McDonald saved with his legs. Newry followed that up with a dangerous cross from Mark Hughes that was met by Mark McCabe at the back post, McDonald pulling off a more conventional and impressive save as he dived to push the ball round the post.

The action was really heating up as the half drew to a close and Peter Murphy produced a decent diving save to deny Davy Fulton. The half ended with McDonald stretching well to fetch Keith Johnston’s deft chip with both sides doubtless feeling there was something in the game for them after the break.

The promise was fulfilled early in the second moiety and it was Newry who made the breakthrough. Not for the first time in their careers, it was McMullan and Johnston who combined to find the net. McMullan gathered a throw in from his strike partner and after holding off his defender he flicked the ball to the advancing Johnston who fired home from the right hand side of the box. Johnston’s shot was well hit, but McDonald again chose to go with his feet, the ball eluding him as it found its way to the back of the net.

The home side responded to the City goal by winning a free kick midway inside the Newry half and a floated delivery in to the City box was missed by everyone before drifting just wide.

The game was now opening up as Fivemiletown had to come out in search of an equaliser. Newry were defending resolutely, while looking increasingly dangerous on the break, in particular through the strong running from deep of full backs McArdle and Hughes. The aforementioned McArdle and McMullan both went close with efforts on goal as Newry sought to give themselves the breathing space of a second goal. However, with chances spurned, the home side were still well in the game. Their diagonal crossed balls in to the box had been a threat all afternoon and as the game entered the final twenty minutes the pattern was set. Could the home front men benefit from the dangerous delivery from their wide midfielders, or would Newry pick them off for a second?

Newry came so close to a second on 73 minutes when a wonderful break from Mark Hughes saw the full back thread a passage from inside his own half to the edge of the Fivemiletown box, the Newry man unlucky to see his shot cannon off the inside of the post, across the goal line and away to safety. A second Newry goal really did look like coming and the travelling support didn’t have to wait long. On 76 minutes, neat interplay between Carville and Johnston released Mark McCabe inside the box with the young striker firing home with aplomb.

That should have been that, but to their credit the home side refused to lie down. A few minutes later another dangerous ball in to the Newry box saw substitute Ricki Carroll go down under a challenge from Neil Mullen and referee Maguire had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Paul Baron slotted home and the game was back in the melting pot.

There were still 10 minutes on the clock as the home side sought a produce a grandstand finish. Newry however stood firm and truth be told looked the more likely side to add to their tally on the break. More than once Newry wasted overlap opportunities and might well have paid for their profligacy. There were a number of important interceptions inside the Newry box, the last of which came from Mark Patton whose excellent block ensured that Newry emerged as deserved winners.

Speaking to Newry Manager Darren Mullen after the game he commented, “games against Fivemiletown are never easy especially at their pitch and this game proved no different. It was a physical game on a tight pitch and we picked a team to suit that. I thought we played very well and combatted the aerial threat they had as well as playing some good football. At 2-0 we were very comfortable and had numerous chances to add to that tally. Mark and Keith both took their chances really well and were a threat throughout the game. The late penalty was a dubious one and took a bit of shine off the performance as it would have been nice to get a clean sheet. However it’s good to get back to winning ways along with a good performance and we now look forward to our league game at home against Newington next Saturday.”

Newry welcome Portadown FC to the Showgrounds on Tuesday night (25^th Oct) in a friendly KO 7.30pm before getting back to league action on Saturday with the visit of Newington FC, KO 3pm.

Man of the Match: Keith Johnston

Newry City. Murphy, McArdle, Hughes, McCaul (Mooney), Mullen, Patton, McCann (Walker), Carville, McMullan (Havern), Johnston, M McCabe. Sub not used: McMahon.