Write a commentQueens 1’s 4-2 Newry 1’s
N. Dinsmore, N. McKnight, N. Liggett, J. Greer, N. Davenport, C. Henning, J. Taylor, C. McKnight, R. Irwin, K. McCombe, R. Nummy, S. McCafferty, P. English
Newry gave a poor display on Saturday after a fantastic performance against Raphoe the previous week. Queens started the better of the two teams, however Newry weathered this and took the lead when Colin McKnight slotted home after a short corner had broken down. Newry doubled their lead soon after with Richard Nummy getting it, to give Newry a flattering half time lead. Queens flew out of the blocks in the second half and Newry just did not look up for the game at all, with a burst of goals midway through the second half Queens flew into the lead with Newry not giving much in the way of an attacking force. Queens now progress to the next round of the cup at Newry’s expense.
Ballymena 2’s 1-0 Newry 3’s
Eddy Graham, Kenny Best, Andrew Baird, James Niblock, David Taylor, Stephen Garvey, Mervin Mc Cague, Willy Moffett, Glyn Elias, Jonny McWilliams, Lee Ervine, Jordan Whiteside, Clint Williamson, Robbie Cartmill
Newry travelled to Ballymena missing a few of their key players. Right from the off you could tell that Newry were playing a completely different side to the one they beat 10-1 at home a few weeks previous. Newry managed to hold the ball, finding passes to the forwards. Newry had a few chances through open play and a few short corners but were unable to score. Ballymena had Newry pressed back in their own half towards the end of the first half, but stand in keeper eddy graham kept the shots out allowing Newry to regain control before the break.
Second half Ballymena scored about 10 minutes in when a Ballymena player broke free from his defender and managed to deflect a ball past the Newry keeper. Newry pushed for an equalize managing to get a few shots towards goal but no-one there to deflect them in. This was Newry’s first defeat of the season (11 games played) against a strong Ballymena side. Newry face PSNI 2’s at home in their last fixture before the Christmas break.
Newry 2’s 0-4 Cookstown 2’s
Newry team: S. Henry, D. Hogg, D. Lawson, J. Lawson, A. Henning, D. Barlow, D. Liggett, W. Adams (c), K. McWilliams, M. McGrath, S. Blakely Subs: D. Andrews, N. McGuffin, R. Hanlon
Seconds fall to Cookstown
Junior League 2 Champions Newry Olympic Seconds were beaten 4-0 by visiting Cookstown Seconds at the Belfast Road on Saturday afternoon in the return fixture from their previous match, a 4-2 defeat in Cookstown. On that occasion Newry gave a spirited backs to the wall performance and were always in the match but there was to be no repeat of that here as Newry struggled to get their passing game going throughout.
The first half saw Newry forced into an early change as Davy Lawson had to leave the field injured forcing a reshuffle with the returning Davy Andrews replacing him while Daryl Barlow moved from midfield to his familiar role at right back. Cookstown took advantage of the positional changes forced on Newry to take control of possession and dominate in midfield. The Newry forwards and midfield toiled hard to protect their defence but couldn’t bring any pressure to bear on the Cookstown rearguard and struggled to launch the counter-attacks that had been so dangerous in the previous fixture between these two. Newry made several changes through the half and while they worked hard in defence a score of one nil to the visitors at half time seemed a fair reflection of the first half.
The second half continued much as the first with Cookstown growing in confidence in the surface and knocking the ball around well. Newry continued to show little real danger in attack while Cookstown pushed on and carved out a succession of chance which found Newry keeper Henry in good form. Newry frustration bubbled as a succession of decisions went for the visitors and the umpires called the captains together to restore order. Cookstown knotched up a second goal before both Henning and Barlow fell foul of the new own goal rule as they inadvertently added one each for the visitors to make it four nil – Barlow with his second o.g. of the season. John Lawson joined his brother on the sidelines with a calf injury on a day when little seemed to be going the way of the Belfast Road outfit. Towards the end Newry threw caution to the wind with Davy Hogg unlucky not to force a short corner from one of several dangerous runs while both McGrath and Andrews almost found McWilliams in the area. As the final whistle blew and the teams exchanged traditional cheers Newry were left to reflect on a hard day at the office and the visitors were deserved victors on the day. Next week Newry will look to round off 2012 with a result against the visiting Raphoe, ideally a repeat of the excellent win gained on the road against the Donegal outfit.
