‘We need to put some points on the board’ says Newry City captain Darren King ahead of huge Ballymena clash

Newry City play their most important game of the season to date this evening, as they host fellow Premiership strugglers Ballymena United at The Showgrounds.

The two sides sit in the bottom two positions in the table, as each have claimed just 11 points from their opening 19 games, however Ballymena currently sit above the automatic relegation spot, as they have a better goal difference.

Despite their poor records, both teams will come into the game with a spring in their steps, as Newry City drew 1-1 away to Crusaders last weekend, whilst Ballymena held Larne to a 0-0 result. The two sides met in early October, and Newry left with all three points, as they won 2-0 away from home. However, it is their record at The Showgrounds which has been a concern, with just one point collected from nine games this season. Indeed, the last time Newry won at home in the league (outside of an awarded 3-0 victory against Portadown) was on November 12, 2022!

‘We’re well capable of getting results’

Newry captain Darren King spoke to the Newry Reporter ahead of the huge clash, and he emphasised the need for the team to reverse their home form fortunes, as they hope to build on a positive result against Crusaders last week.

“The last number of weeks have been difficult for the group, with the results and the performances that we have turned out” he admitted.“Last week, the emphasis was on getting a good performance against Crusaders, and putting what happened previous to that behind us. We have to use that result as a platform to build on.

“This is a hugely important game for us. These are the games which we need to be taking points from, against teams in around the same position as us. The games coming up in this period are going to tell a tale, so we need to be putting points on the board.”

Whilst the team will take confidence from the Crusaders draw, the two games prior to that caused concern for the club’s supporters, as they took on two fellow bottom half sides – Dungannon Swifts and Glenavon – and lost 4-1 and 3-0 respectively to those teams. King admitted that the team’s performances in those games fell below expectation, but the group retains belief that they are good enough to get the required results in these ‘relegation six-pointers’.

“Earlier in the season we drew against Dungannon and we defeated Glenavon, so we’re certainly capable of getting results against those teams,” said King.“But every team goes through a patch of poor form, and it was our turn. Hopefully, that is it now past us. It wasn’t a case of anything changing, or the mood being down within the camp, it just came down to our performance levels – and we didn’t perform how we expected to do, or how we’re capable of. So, our job is to try and rectify that now.”

Preparations affected

Newry City were due to meet Dungannon Swifts in the Bet McLean League Cup Quarter-final on Tuesday evening, however the game was called off at the last minute by referee Shane Anderson, who feared the pitch may freeze. Both managers and sets of players protested for the game to go ahead, but their protests fell on deaf ears.

The decision to postpone the game – which will now take place on Tuesday December 12 – disrupted Newry’s week, as not only did they not get the game, they also weren’t able to conduct a training session, and King lamented the debacle.

“We were baffled by the situation, and we’re still baffled. It hampered our whole plans for the week,” he said.

“The squad for set for a game on Tuesday night away from home. When it was called off, Dungannon were still able to go ahead and train, whilst we had to travel back down the road, and by time we got back it was too late, so we missed out on any football.”

In more positive news, Thomas Lockhart is in line for selection having returned from injury by coming off the bench against Crusaders last week. Ciaran O’Connor faces a race against time to be fit, as he seeks to return from an injury he picked up against Cliftonville last month.