Fifteen minutes of first half madness leaves Newry City all but relegated from the Premiership

Newry City players applaud the fans on their way off the pitch. Pic: Brendan Monaghan

A disastrous 15 minute spell at the end of the first half propelled Newry to a 3-1 defeat at home to Carrick Rangers, which has all but relegated them from the top flight.

Newry City will finish bottom of the Premiership and - barring an unlikely favour from Championship side Dundela – are set for the drop.

The result, alongside Ballymena United defeating Glenavon, means that Newry can’t catch the eleventh-placed side and are now hoping that Dundela can leapfrog Portadown and Bangor to top the Championship and send Newry into a play-off.

It all started so promising for City, as they took the lead through Ciaran O’Connor just two minutes in, and didn’t allow Carrick any chances in the first half an hour.

But then, things fell apart in 15 minutes of madness, as Carrick levelled the game through Curtis Allen, Daniel Gibson flicked on a long throw by Ben Tilney, and Allen bustled his way past some weak challenges before slotting the ball low into the net.

Minutes later, Gibson was sent through on goal, and he was brought down by Conor Mitchell for a penalty – from which, David Cushley sent Mitchell the wrong way and confidently drilled home.

Then things got worse before the half-time whistle, as Fra McCaffrey was given his marching orders for a dangerous tackle on Cushley, and a Gibson shot somehow squirmed underneath Mitchell and rolled into the far corner to have Carrick 3-1 ahead at the break.

In the early stages of the second half, it was Carrick who looked the more likely of the two sides to score next, with James Teelan, Gibson and Allen all coming close.

As the game wore on, it became apparent that the undermanned Newry weren’t going to pull off a miraculous comeback, and two further missed chances from Emmet McGuckin and Gibson – who both hit the crossbar – spared them any more damage on the scoreboard.

MATCH STATS

Newry City: Mitchell, King, Healy, McGivern, McCaffrey, O'Connor (Carroll 59), J McGovern (McDonagh 59), Salley (P McGovern 79), Forde (Doyle 84), O'Brien, Poynton (Bagnall 59).

Unused subs: Maguire, Moan.

Carrick Rangers: Glendinning, Forsythe, Watson, Gordon, Cushley (Maciulaitis HT), Mitchell (Stewart 16, MacKinnon 77), Allen (McGuckin 79), Cherry, Gibson, Teelan, Tilney (Buchanan-Rolleston 77).

Unused subs: McCauley, Graham.

Referee: Declan Hassan.