Newry Olympic 2s 1-4 Instonians 3s

The Seconds fell to defeat in their opening home match of the season on Saturday; although the tie was closer than the score line suggests.

Newry got off to the worst possible start when the visitors opened the scoring with the game just a couple of minutes old. And they were 2-0 down before the end of the first quarter when the Inst striker lashed home a brilliant reverse stick effort from the top of the circle.

However, as the match wore on, the more Newry seemed to settle and began to dominate. They pulled a goal back when some nifty stick work from Richard McGivern saw him slip the ball past the keeper to make it 2-1 at the break. McGivern had also seen the away keeper stop a flick from a short corner before half-time.

Olympic were again the better side in the second period as they chased the goal their play deserved and that would have brought them level. However, chances came and went for the hosts who were unable to grab the equaliser due to some wayward finishing and stout defending from Instonians.

As they continued to push forward in their search for the leveller, that inevitably led to gaps at the back and Instonians took full advantage to score two counter-attacking goals in clinical fashion in the final quarter and put a gloss on the scoreline. 

Newry Olympic 2s

Andrew Marks, Gareth McCullough, Eddie Graham, Jake Boyd, John Lawson, Gareth Moffett, Daryl Barlow, Ryan Jordan, Simon McCafferty (Capt), Scott Blakely, Corey Large, Michael McCullough, Richard McGivern, Jordan Whiteside