Coleman happy as three points move Newry off basement spot

NEWRY City goalkeeper Andy Coleman doesn’t want any plaudits for his individual performances unless his side are winning.

Luckily for him, both happened on Saturday as City defeated Ards to move off the bottom of the Danske Bank Premiership table and it was Coleman’s superb display between the sticks for Darren Mullen’s men that gave them the platform to leapfrog Ards with second half goals from Mark Hughes and John Boyle.

Coleman wasn’t about to understate how important a victory it was for City, who collected their first three points since beating Cliftonville at The Showgrounds on September 1.

“It’s massive. I think both teams, going by how poor a standard it was in the first half, showed how big a game it was. Both teams cancelled each other out.

“But we were under no illusions that we had to step it up in the second half and I think we did. It was a great win,” said the former Glenavon and Dungannon Swifts stopper.

“I’m happy enough with my performance. It’s one of those games where the majority of them are saveable, apart from the header in the first half, which was probably the best of the lot.

“I’ve been making saves throughout games and people have been patting me on the back and saying I’m doing rightly.”

He added: “You don’t want to fall into a false sense of security and think you’re doing well whenever you’re not winning. So it’s nice to make the saves and get the win.”

NEWRY CITY AFC: Coleman, King, Mooney, Noonan, Boyle, McCann (McCabe 74), Montgomery, Carville (McArdle 88), S Hughes (Healy 90), Teggart, M Hughes. Subs not used: Maguire, Walker, Lavery, Rushe

ARDS: Johnston, E McAllister, Byers, Taylor, Elebert, Frazer, M Kelly, J Kelly, D McAllister (Strain 76), McClean, Nelson. Subs not used: Mooney, Kerr, Cherry, Mitchell, Tommons, McAleenan

Referee: Ian McNabb

Man of the Match: Andy Coleman (Newry) Match Rating: 6/10.