Garth Scates (suspension) and Albert Watson (illness) missed the game, with Lee Patrick and Simon Kelly coming in to stake their claim for a regular starting berth.

Stand-in captain, Gary Haveron, also celebrated a landmark as it was his 100th appearance in a Ballymena United shirt, after joining from Coleraine in 2005.

It was a horror start for the Sky Blues, who had previously went a dozen games unbeaten, as they went behind in bizarre circumstances after just 13 minutes.

Chris Morgan released Kevin Keegan down the left flank and his low cross was blocked by teenage defender, Johnny Flynn, who harmlessly directed the ball towards Paul Murphy in the Ballymena goal.

Murphy stopped the ball but somehow the ball squirmed out of his grasp from under him, and despite a futile attempt to prevent a major embarrassment - the ball trickled over the line for the opening goal.

Ballymena’s heads didn't drop and went on the attack in search of an equaliser, which duly came on 29 minutes when Stuart King's corner was powerfully headed home by the unmarked Simon Kelly.

This was the big Dundalk defender’s first goal of the season, and only his second strike since his move from his hometown club last January.

The game proved a tense affair with battling midfield displays from both sides in what proved to be a typical cup tie – as tensions ran high going into the break.

Ballymena United took the lead three minutes into the second half, when a Mark Picking cross from the right was poorly dealt with by the Newry defence allowing Kevin Kelbie time to place a right footed shot past Robert Robinson for his 11th goal of the season.

Newry hit back just before hour mark to pull the scores level again. Richard Clarke's pass found former United target, Chris Morgan, who with his back to goal turned sharply and rifled a spectacular half-volley into the bottom corner giving Murphy no chance.

Despite the home side being in the ascendancy, it was Tommy Wright's side that nearly cemented their place in the Sixth Round when Stuart King picked up the ball and cut inside before rifling an unstoppable effort from 30 yards which cannoned off the crossbar with 5 minutes remaining.

David Malcolm blew the game up to signal that both sides will have to go at it again on Tuesday night (15th) at the Warden Street venue.

"I'm disappointed because when you go 2-1 up away from home then the next 10 minutes are vital and we gave a sloppy goal away," said Tommy Wright.

"But we showed character and we're still in the hat for the next round and that was the most important thing. I didn't think in the first half that we passed the ball that well and we gave it away cheaply.

"We were defending really well from them and then the keeper makes a mistake because there was a lot of spin on the ball, but Murph has been brilliant for us this season and he went on to make an important save in the second half. Those things happen in football."

The winners of Tuesday’s replay will face Dundela at home in the Sixth Round.

Teams:

NEWRY CITY	BALLYMENA UNITED
1: ROBINSON, Robert	1: MURPHY, Paul
2: HUDSON, Niall	2: WRAY, Thomas
3: FEENEY, Cullen	3: McCLEAN, Craig
4: McLAUGHLIN, Paddy	4: HAVERON, Gary (c)
5: FRIARS, Emmett	5: KELLY, Simon
6: CLARKE, Richard	6: FLYNN, Johnny
7: KING, Darren	7: PICKING, Mark
8: FERGUSON, Steven	8: PATRICK, Lee
9: MORGAN, Chris	9: MELAUGH, Gavin
10: FRIARS, Sean	10: KELBIE, Kevin
11: KEEGAN, Kevin	11: KING, Stuart
Substitutes	-
12: FEENEY, Lee	12: LOWRY, Stephen
Replaced Chris Morgan (80 mins)	Replaced Mark Picking (76 mins)
13: COLEMAN, Andrew	14: CUSHLEY, David
Not Used	Not Used
14: CURRAN, Ian	15: CALLAGHAN, Aaron
Not Used	Not Used
15: ANDERSON, Tony	16: FITZGERALD, Darren
Not Used	Not Used
16: DONEGAN, Paul	17: WALSH, Davitt
Not Used	Not Used
Yellow Cards:	-
None	Unknown
Red Cards:	-
None	None