Newington Rangers overcome somespot-kick pressure to progress in cup

Newington Rangers 4

(after extra time and penalties)

NEWINGTON Rangers squeezed through to the next round of the Clarence Cup, winning on penalties after this Clarence Cup tie at Division 2C new boys Portavogie Rangers ended up at one-apiece at the end of extra time.

Manager Stuart Pike said he was “well pleased – especially with the performance”.

He added: “I was impressed with Portavogie. They’re a good footballing team and they get a good crowd of spectators at their games, which adds to the atmosphere. They seemed to be coming from everywhere to watch the penalties, though we should have had it won by then.

“It’s a tough place to go, but our boys were excellent.”

Newington thought they had taken a 20-minute lead but referee Jim Shaw adjudged that Paul McCann’s header, from a Darren Nelson corner, hadn’t completely crossed the line before it was scrambled clear by a Portavogie defender.

Five minutes later the 1C side did manage to light the fuse; Paul Thompson slipping the ball through for Jonathon Gilliland to hammer low and hard, in-off the post.

Newington would have put some distance between the sides had Raymond Hammond’s first-time volley not been turned on to the post by the home netminder.

At the other end, nevertheless, Portavogie were causing problems from set pieces and it was from a corner that the ball spun up and struck John Brown’s arm just five minutes from the break. However, keeper Gary McClune got himself tuned in nicely for the later action, pulling off an excellent penalty save.

One-nil Newington then at the break, and while Hammond again demanded another notable save from the keeper on the turnaround, it was Portavogie who levelled matters, courtesy of a towering header from a corner, although the visitors claimed that McClune had been impeded.

Newington could have won it in the 90, with McCann clattering one off the crossbar and Nelson again forcing another fine save from the keeper.

And so on to extra time, where the main talking point came early in the second session, when Nelson was dismissed along with his Portavogie opponent.

Oddly enough, Newington were warming up substitute John Grant, specifically to take a penalty, only for the referee to sound the whistle a minute earlier than the Larne boys had been expecting.

Thankfully, the timing was better with the penalties, as McClune gave Newington the advantage with a superb save in keeping out Portavogie’s first spot kick.

This advantage was lost when McCann placed Newington’s third kick too close to the keeper, but in the end it was the visitors who won through, when Portavogie hoisted their fifth and final kick over the bar.

Newington’s penalty marksmen were Ryan Cardwell, John Brown, Raymond Hammond and Noel Dean.

Next Saturday, it’s back to the league, and a trip to Groomsport.

Newington Rangers: McClune – Brown, Johnston, Cardwell, J Thompson – Paul Thompson, Dean, Hammond, Gilliland (McGarel), Nelson – McCann. Subs (unused) Grant, Phil Thompson