Irish League boss insists side 'need to build' on positive point in bid to avoid consecutive relegations

Ryan McNickle’s 13th league goal of the season cancelled out Brandon Diau’s opener while there was further good news for Newry at Inver Park where Armagh City scored twice in injury time to beat their relegation rivals Newington 3-2.

Saturday’s results mean Mullen’s men are now one point clear of bottom side Newington and trail Ballinamallard United, who have two matches in hand, by five points as they look to avoid consecutive relegations.

Having followed up a shock victory over league leaders Bangor with defeats to Annagh United and Newington, Mullen wants to try and generate momentum this time around.

"I'm disappointed not to be coming away with three points considering the chances we had at the end, but overall it's probably a fair enough result,” he reflected on the club’s media channel. “We know it's a difficult place to come.

"We had a couple of suspensions and three or four lads out injured so we knew it was going to be difficult.

"We set out our game plan and thought we did it very well. In the first half we contained them and in the second half we conceded - he's about seven foot the lad so he's going to win headers. It was a good delivery.

"Then it's about how we react to it. We spoke during the week about digging in and fighting a bit more.

"I thought we did that really well and it was a case of hitting them on the break. It was a good finish.

"It's probably frustrating we weren't better on the counter because we had numerous chances to hit them on the break.

"It's a good point and we needed a reaction from last week, which wasn't good enough. We needed to give the fans something to cheer about and we did.

"Players had deviated from the game plan the last two games and it didn't work.

"When players do that and it doesn't work you don't get any rewards from it. Thankfully they stuck to the plan today.

"Training has been good, but it was before Annagh and Newington too and we didn't take that into the game...we did today."

Next up for Newry is a trip to high-flying H&W Welders, who maintained their promotion push by beating rivals Dundela, extending an unbeaten league run to nine matches in the process.

"We need to build on this,” added Mullen. “It can't be like winning the Bangor game and then not performing - we have to carry this on.

"We need to pick up more points. We can't feel sorry for ourselves, we have to fight our way out of this, and today was a good start."