Enniskillen Athletic 0-4 Newtownstewart

Enniskillen Athletic fell to a 4-0 defeat to Newtownstewart, as they continue to wait for a first win on the pitch this season.

In-form Newtownstewart raced into a two-goal lead by halftime with strikes from Tiarnan Patton and Sean McAleer.

Liam Mossey extended that lead early in the second half, with a late Adam Edwards goal making it four wins in a row for the Tyrone side. 

Athletic and Newtownstewart had shared the points in a three-all draw in the corresponding fixture on the opening day of the season, and Athletic manager Emmett Cassidy admitted he saw the rematch as a chance to get his team back on track.  

“I thought they would have been down there along with us at the end of the season, but they were a lot better than what I thought they would have been,” he conceded.  

“They have had boys come into the team from the team we played at the start of the season.

"We played them in the first game and were unlucky not to beat them. We probably went into the game on Saturday with a stronger team than we had that day, but we are in a bit of a rut at the minute and we are finding it hard to get out of it.

"We just can’t get going. It is a bad run, with injuries and boys who aren’t available, and boys who aren’t playing any more. It’s very difficult.” 

Despite Athletic’s recent disappointing run, they made a bright start for the first fifteen minutes of the contest, with both Johnny Brownlee and captain Colm McNally testing Newtownstewart goalkeeper Tiarnan Mayse.

Emmett Cassidy then grazed the outside of the post with a long-range effort, but Athletic could not find the breakthrough when they were on top and the visitors moved ahead when a free kick into Athletic’s penalty area was headed onto the crossbar and Tiarnan Patton reacted quickest to stab the ball over the line. 

Sean McAleer then headed in from six yards out from a corner as Newtownstewart took a two-goal lead into the halftime interval, and they had a great chance to move further ahead early in the second half when they were awarded a penalty, but James Maguire made the save. 

The penalty stop was only a temporary reprieve however as Liam Mossey’s effort from 30 yards flew in off the underside of the crossbar, and Adam Edwards sealed the win with a late fourth when he took advantage of a mix-up in Athletic’s defence.