We travel to Newry Showgrounds tomorrow afternoon to take on Newry City in our next Lough 41 Championship fixture.

Match Info

When: Monday 27^th December – Kick-Off 3:00pm

Where: Newry Showgrounds

What: Lough 41 Championship

Entry: Pay at the gate – £8 (Adult) / £5 (Concession) / U12 FREE

The Opponents

Newry are flying high at the moment and currently occupy top spot in the Lough 41 Championship table. Last week, a Daniel Hughes goal proved enough for leaders Newry City to defeat bottom of the table Queen’s University at The Dub. Hughes squeezed the ball past keeper Conan Doherty at the right post to maintain an eight point lead at the top for Darren Mullen’s side after they had been held by the Students for almost an hour.

The Comrades

Last week, Ards proved too strong for the Comrades as they swept to a 4-2 victory at Dixon Park. Ards might have moved in front as early as the opening minute when presented with a penalty but Kyle Calderwood’s spot-kick was saved by Jack Ferguson. The deadlock was broken on ten minutes, however, when Ciaran Heggarty nodded Ballyclare in front from Ian Fletcher’s free-kick. However, two goals in quick succession midway through the first half tipped the balance in Ards’ favour. Conall McGrandles levelled on 21 minutes with a header from Patrick Cafolla’s corner before, four minutes after that, Ross Arthurs made it 2-1 with a finish in off an upright. Ards further extended their advantage just before the hour when Cafolla found the net but Ballyclare came back into proceedings on 73 minutes through Chris Ramsey’s header from Ashton McDermott’s cross. But Salou Jallow made sure of the points for Ards deep into stoppage time after rounding Ferguson to calmly slot home. The result saw the Comrades drop to 8^th position in the Lough 41 Championship table. Speaking on tomorrow’s upcoming fixture, Paul Harbinson explained how the Comrades must “try so hard to put away the narrative of where we are and just focus on the game to see what we can get from it.”

Last Time Out

The last time these two sides met was back in September when the Comrades secured a narrow 1-0 victory over table-toppers Newry at Dixon Park. Scoreless at the break, the only goal of the game came seven minutes into the second half through Gary Donnelly who finished on the half volley from six yards out after Tom Mathieson had teed the ball up.