Newry City and Rathfriland Rangers play to a goalless draw at The Showgrounds

Newry City and Rathfriland played to a 0-0 draw at The Showgrounds this evening.

Despite coming into the game as table toppers, Newry were second best for most of the night, certainly in terms of chances, with Rathfriland having more opportunities to win the game throughout the 90 minutes.

The first half was light on chances for both sides, but was far from light on crunching tackles, with both sides getting to know each other in this local derby.

The first opportunity of the game went the way of the visitors, when goalkeeper Ben McCauley played Ruairi Fitzpatrick through on goal, but he pulled his shot wide at the near post.

Newry settled into the contest and had plenty of possession, but not much in the way of clear-cut opportunities. They felt as though they should have had a penalty however, when Jack Chambers was brought to ground by a Daniel Devlin tackle, but the referee waved their appeals away.

Rathfriland then thought they had opened the scoring, when Stephen McCavitt got in one on one and applied the finish, but the goal was ruled out for offside. At the other end, a Newry corner caused plenty of confusion in the Rangers box and could have gone anywhere, but McCauley got a crucial punch to clear.

The final chance of the half went to Devlin, but his low drive from the edge of the box was saved by Jason Craughwell.

Rathfriland had the first chance of the second half when McCavitt headed towards goal from a corner, but his effort just cleared the crossbar. At the other end, Newry’s number nine Lee Newell found himself in on goal, but he was denied by an impressive last-ditch tackle by Joshua Cahoon.

Rangers had a huge opportunity when they put together a slick passing move which involved McCavitt and Fitzpatrick and finished with Matthew Holloway in on goal, but he was let down by a loose touch and the chance was missed.

McCavitt then had a speculative effort from outside the box curl just wide of the far post. The same player was then through one on one following a Matthew Rendina mistake, but the Newry centre back got back in and made a crucial tackle. The chance stayed alive, with McCavitt pulling the ball back for Holloway from the by-line, but Holloway scuffed his shot wide of the far post.

In the third minute of stoppage time, Rathfriland had two final chances to win the game. The first came when Jack Barbour got in on goal, but he was denied by Craughwell at the near post. From the following corner, Newry didn’t clear their lines and McCavitt drilled a powerful attempt towards the far post, missing by a matter of inches, with the last kick of the game.

MATCH STATS

Newry City: Jason Craughwell, Jordan King, Matthew Rendina, Jack Chambers, Lee Newell, Shane Forbes (Charlie McGrath 66), Evan McEnteggart, Cormac McNally (Declan Carville 73), Keith Dalton, Scott McCullough, Georgie Poynton.

Unused subs: Reece McKeown, Kane Rossiter, Stephen Moan, Alex Heaney, Jack Kelly.

Rathfriland Rangers: Ben McCauley, Jack Barbour, Daniel Devlin, Dalton Tate, Joshua Cahoon, Jordan Hayes, Ruairi Fitzpatrick, Stephen McCavitt, Jack Smith (Andrew Kilmartin 65), Josh Cooper, Matthew Holloway.

Unused subs: Ryan Dalzell, Eoin Rooney, Harry Campbell, David McCullough, Jake Willis, Callum Mills.

Referee: Richard White.