It took the visitors only seven minutes to draw first blood when Emmett Friars was left unmarked by a static Ballymena United defence to powerfully head home Steven Ferguson's corner.

The shell-shocked Ballymena side did press forward with little joy from then on; firstly Andy Smith tried a speculative lob from outside the area which failed to trouble Newry goalkeeper Andy Coleman. Darren Lockhart also tried a similar effort with little success.

Former Northern Ireland International, Smith, who has still yet to score in the League for his new side worked hard up front and went close with two half-chances when he drilled an effort across the face of goal before an effort from just outside the box went wide.

Steven Ferguson, who had set up the opening goal went close when he tested Dwyane Nelson from 25 yards, forcing the United goalkeeper into a smart stop.

Early in the second half, a seemingly rejuvinated Braid side couldn't force the ball into the net after an almighty scramble. David Cushley's fierce drive was only parried into the path of Lockhart which again forced another save out of Coleman who eventually found safety.

However with 73 minutes gone, Newry doubled their lead as former Ballymena defender Gavin McDonnell launched a hopeful punt forward to substitute Matty Hazley who fed through the veteran Chris Morgan who slotted home to almost certainly wrap up the three points for Gerry Flynn's side.

Roy Walker's side did get a consolation goal in injury time through one of their many corners, two substitutes combined when Ormo Okunaiya crossed and Nathan McConnell thundered home a header for his second goal of the season.

Ballymena United's abysmal home record continues as they have only won three Premiership games at home this calendar year and will look to bounce back with a trip to bottom club, Lisburn Distillery on Tuesday night.

Picture: www.presseye.com

Teams:

BALLYMENA UNITED	NEWRY CITY
1: NELSON, Dwayne	1: COLEMAN, Andrew
2: SMITH, Michael	2: KING, Darren
3: COLLIGAN, Lee	3: BLACK, Ross
4: SURGENOR, Mark	4: FEENEY, Cullen
5: WATSON, Albert	5: FRIARS, Emmett
6: TAGGART, Gavin	7: GARRETT, Stephen
7: CUSHLEY, David	8: DAVIDSON, Alan
8: CARSON, Philip	9: MORGAN, Chris
9: SMITH, Andy	11: FERGUSON, Steven
10: KELBIE, Kevin (c)	17: MUNSTER, David
11: LOCKHART, Darren	18: McDONNELL, Gavin
Substitutes	-
12: OKUNIAYA, Ormon	14: ADAMCZYK, Lukasz
Replaced David Cushley (85 mins)	Not Used
13: STEWART, George	16: KEEGAN, Kevin
Replaced Philip Carson (70 mins)	Replaced David Munster (62 mins)
14: STEWART, Aaron	19: GRAHAM, Andy
Not Used	Replaced Chris Morgan (75 mins)
15: ANDERSON, Noel	21: QUINN, Mark
Not Used	Not Used
16: McCONNELL, Nathan	23: HAZLEY, Matt
Replaced Andy Smith (80 mins)	Replaced Alan Davidson (70 mins)
Yellow Cards:	-
Unknown	Unknown
Red Cards:	-
None	None