'Zero quality' from City says boss
The City boss has expressed disappointment with the team's performance, citing a lack of quality in their recent games.
NEWRY CITY AFC 0
NEWINGTON 2
TWO late goals proved to be decisive as Newington saw off Newry City at The Showgrounds on Friday night, writes Kieran Lynch.
There wasn't too much action at either end in the opening half, as both sides struggled to create clear cut chances.
Newington would have been the happier however, as they had more of the ball and applied pressure on the Newry defence throughout, testing the centre halves with several crosses.
Seamus Duffy was a livewire on the left wing for the visitors and he had a sniff of a goal when he tried his luck from the edge of the box, but his shot was blocked.
It took 38 minutes for the first shot on target when Newry 'keeper Jason Craughwell had to make an impressive reaction save to deny a Ruaidhri Donnelly header from close range.
At the other end, Pablo Andrade tried his luck from 25 yards out, but he couldn't find the target, leaving the teams deadlocked at 0-0 at half-time.
In the early stages of the second half, both sides came close to opening the scoring but were denied by last ditch tackles. Jamie Rea denied Jay Donnelly an almost certain goal at one end, before Richard Gowdy took the ball off Aaron Donnelly’s toe in a dangerous position at the other.
In between those moments, Newry’s Charlie McGrath tested Newington shot stopper Ethan Carry after an offload from Ryan Swan, but Carry was up to the task and saved the low effort.
Newington almost scored from a corner when Paul Donnelly’s whopped cross beat Craughwell, but luckily for Newry, Rea was on the line and able to head clear.
Jay Donnelly then went on a driving solo run at the Newry defence and it would have been one of the goals of the season if he had been able to apply the finish, but his shot flew wide of the far post.
In the last 10 minutes, City substitute Lee Newell came close to putting his side ahead when he headed goalwards, but his shot was saved by Carry.
Then, on 83 minutes, the breakthrough finally came – and it came for the visitors in style. Michael Morgan tried his luck from 25 yards out and curled the ball superbly into the bottom corner and beyond the outstretched arm of Craughwell.
Aaron Heaney had a chance to put the result beyond all doubt when he beat Newry’s offside trap, but he fired his shot into the side netting from a tight angle.
When the same man was presented with a golden opportunity three minutes into stoppage time, it took him two attempts – but he was able to put the icing on the cake. Morgan played the ball across goal and Heaney looked certain to tap home. To Craughwell’s credit, he somehow got down and palmed the shot clear.
However, Heaney regathered possession settled himself and fired the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-0 late on.
Post-match, Newry City manager Stuart King gave credit to Newington boss Declan O’Hara, but admitted that he ‘expected a wee bit more’ from his team.
“Well done to Declan and well done to Newington,” King told Newry City’s social media channel.
“I thought we were poor, I have got to be honest. We had zero quality tonight.
“Yes, I can make excuses and say that there are six or seven players out injured or whatever, but we knew that it was going to be a tough battle, and we knew that were up against it. But I expected a wee bit more from my lads.
“We switched off from a long throw-in into the box. We won the first contact, but there was someone standing free at the edge of the box, and he put it into the net with 10 minutes to go. Then we were chasing the game.
“I thought our quality wasn’t there tonight, and we huffed and puffed. I don’t think that there is too much between the two teams, but their quality off the bench, with the likes of Mick Morgan coming on, makes a massive difference.
“At the minute, we’re low on numbers, and yeah, it was just a poor night.”
City are on the road this weekend, as they travel to Clandeboye Park to face Ards on Saturday.
“I just need to get people back fit and available,” said King.
“Whenever we have everybody fit and available, we’re as strong as anybody; I know that.
“But tonight, we just looked leggy, didn’t have much quality, we kept turning over the ball too often, didn’t give the right ball at the right times, and it was a disappointing night.”
NEWRY CITY: Jason Craughwell, Jamie Rea, Albert Watson, Ryan Swan (Declan Carville 73), Evan McEnteggart, Andrew Hoey, Pablo Andrade, Keith Dalton, Kyron McGee (Dylan McKevitt 88), Charlie McGrath (Lee Newell 70), Aaron Donnelly (Caolan Marron 70).
Unused subs: Reece McKeown, Darren King, Sam Kierans.
NEWINGTON: Ethan Carry, Michael Byrne (Conor Hand 71), Richard Gowdy, Ruaidhri Donnelly (Darren Stuart 60), Lee McGreevy (Aaron Heaney 60), Patrick Downey (Michael Morgan 60), Paul Donnelly, Nathan Watters, Aidan Kelly, Seamus Duffy, Jay Donnelly (Joseph Tully 86).
Unused subs: Caolan McBride, Cillian McCann.
Referee: Finton Coyle.