Mens 1s lose out in exciting Linden Cup final

Newry Olympic Men's 1s did themselves and the whole club proud with a tremendous performance against hot favourites and UH Intermediate League Champions Mossley Hockey Club in the Linden Cup Final, held at the NICS Playball Complex at Stormont on Sunday 27th April 2025.

Although weakened by the loss of Captain Josh Porter and attacking midfielder Marcus Murdock to broken collar bones from earlier in the season and with regulars Corey Large and Kris Fletcher on holiday, Newry drafted in additional players from the 2s to have a full squad with plenty of energy available from the sidelines.

In an exciting match it was the Newtownabbey side however, that took the silverware home when run-ins were needed to separate the two sides after the match ended level after 70 minutes.

In front of a large crowd, the match swung first one way, then the other and then back again, to leave everyone on edge to see who would be declared the winner.

First half action

In the first quarter it was Newry who looked more in control and were confident dealing with the Mossley attack. Both sides had opportunities to score, before the Olympic took the lead. It was from a well worked break from the back, that the ball was quickly moved to the forward line for young James Macauley to strike a great shot from the edge of the circle to beat the Mossley keeper. Newry held on for a deserved 1-0 lead at the end of the quarter.

Mossley came storming back in the second quarter and kept the Newry defence of David England, Colin Henning, Ryan Simms and Andrew Baird under pressure. From one of their attacks, the ball was worked down the right wing and squared across the face of the Newry goal. In the chaos the developed, the ball deflected off a Newry stick into an empty net for the equaliser.

The tables had certainly turned at this stage, with the Newtownabbey side continuing to press forward. However it was from a hotly disputed umpiring decision that Mossley took the lead. A free appeared to be given the wrong way on the left side of the 23m line, which Mossley took quickly and smashed the ball into the circle. The ball was expertly controlled by a Mossley forward, to give Newry goalkeeper Richard Henning no chance with a strong shot and Mossley's second goal, for a 1-2 lead at the end of the first half.

Second Half fight back

Although rocked by the turn in fortunes, Newry worked hard to get back into the game right from the start of the second half, switching players on and off to keep fresh legs on the pitch.

Spurred on by Jeremy Greer, Gareth Moffett, Thomas Lockhart and Mark McCullough in midfield, the Olympic gradually got back on top. Forwards Keith McWilliams, Simon McCafferty, Scott Blakely and Jay McWilliams pressed forward putting the Mossley defenders under pressure.

With time running out in the third quarter, Newry eventually won a penalty corner. Using a well practiced move, the ball was injected by Jeremy Greer for David England to drive home the equaliser from the edge of the circle to make it 2 - 2.

The game was perfectly poised for an exciting final quarter and so it proved to be. It was Olympic who took the lead once again with another well worked corner with just eight minutes to go. This time Colin Henning injected the ball for Ryan Simms to stop at the edge of the circle, for David England in turn to flick the stationary ball out of the reach of the Mossley goalkeeper and into the back of the goal. 3 -2 to Newry!

However, Mossley aren't league champions without good reason. Within two minutes they had fought their way back and to the delight of their supporters, scored another equaliser high into the Newry net from a narrow angle. The game ended 3 - 3 and so the final was to be decided by the dreaded, but exciting "run-ins".

Run-In Decider

A "run-in" is where an attacking player goes one-on-one against the opposition goalkeeper, starting from the 23m line and is given eight seconds to get the ball into the goal. Each team takes five run-ins, before moving to sudden death if both sides are level.

Mossley won the toss to go first in the best of five to decide the eventual winners of the cup and were successful from all of their attempts. Newry unfortunately missed out on just one of their efforts, with the ball slipping narrowly past the post, leaving Mossley as the 2025 Linden Cup Winners.

The whole Newry Olympic 1s squad put in a tremendous performance in the final and were unlucky to lose out on the day. They played some great hockey and showed a never-say-die attitude to fight their way back after going behind.

Well done boys, it was a really exciting match enjoyed by everyone who was there!