Williamson hat-trick helps ruthless Garvey to smash eight past Newry

Newly promoted Newry, coached by ex-Garvey legend Robbie Taylor, have struggled so far in the Premier Division and were immediately on the back foot on Saturday when Garvey opened their scoring after just two minutes.

The goal came from an Andy Williamson penalty corner drag-flick, which was straight but good enough to beat Newry keeper McGivern.

McGivern saved Garvey’s second corner in the fourth minute but could do nothing about a fierce reverse stick shot from Daniel Nelson in the eighth minute, his third goal in his last three games.

Garvey’ soon won a third corner but Williamson’s flick cannoned off the post and Daniel Buser put the rebound wide.

The hosts’ choice of the final pass was debatable and it took until the 33rd minute for them to seal the game as a contest when they scored their third goal. It came from a very quick break and was finished by Andy Williamson close to goal giving the home side a more than comfortable 3-0 advantage at the break.

The Garvey pressure continued unabated as the second half got under way and after Andy Williamson had shot past the post, their fifth penalty corner was superbly converted by Timmy Cockram in the 45th minute, the ball flying into the top corner.

Newry did manage a good attack in the 48th minute which enabled them to fashion a shot but it went well over the cross bar and it proved to be the only threat on the Garvey goal throughout the 70 minutes.

With all the pressure, Garvey could not add to their goal tally for the next 15 minutes but they did hit the post for the third time, Daniel Nelson the unlucky striker. However, in the 61st minute, Daniel Buser set himself up for a reverse stick shot and beat McGivern at the far right hand post and three minutes later Williamson completed his hat-trick with a simple finish.

Garvey added two more in the last five minutes to make it four goals in nine minutes. The seventh went to James Dowling who slotted in from an angle and the eighth and final effort fell to Jason Lynch whose reverse stick shot beat McGivern for pace from six yards on the right of the circle.

The final tally just about justified the dominance of the home side but they will face a much greater challenge next week when they ake on unbeaten, free scoring Banbridge in the third match in the IHL series.

Only Garvey themselves have got close to giving Bann a game this season. The 4-3 defeat in the opening league match proved there was little between the teams but since that Banbridge have looked almost invincible with a torrent of goals in all competitions.

Garvey will be hoping to raise their game for their old rivals and if they do then the score-line might well be closer than many would predict.

The game is at Havelock Park at 5pm and could prove to be one of the games of the season with both teams heading for the play-off positions.