By Jonathan Brown
THIS season is all about stability for Newcastle Town.
That’s the assessment of player-manager Jonathan Scannell, who has taken over from Paddy Mulholland after the club stalwart left Bear Park at the end of last season.
Scannell has brought in Shane Harrison as assistant manager, alongside coaches Ruairi Doran and Joe McDaid, as he looks to improve on last season’s disappointing campaign, which saw the Seasiders effectively finish their season in March.
They ended fourth from bottom in Amateur League 1B after exiting every cup competition at the first hurdle. A mixed pre-season saw Town draw with Valley Rangers before suffering Corrigan Cup defeats to Castlewellan Town and Oliver Plunkett.
There were also victories over Celtic Bhoys and Portaferry before opening the new campaign with defeat away to Downshire Young Men last Tuesday and a 0-0 draw with Woodvale on Saturday.
“This year is about trying to get stability within the club, so everything else can be built on top of that,” Scannell explained.
To help bring about that stability, the Rathfriland club legend has looked to experience in the summer transfer window, bringing Peter Brannigan, Dessie McCartan, Eoin Murray and Shane Kearney back to the club.
Forward Nathan Mills has also joined from Valley Rangers to provide added experience alongside the younger members of the squad.
However, Scannell will have to cope without star player Kian Mulholland, who has joined Dromara Village, while captain Philip Bonny faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after rupturing his Achilles.
“Philip is a massive miss for us in defence and Kian is a huge loss in terms of his quality and the goals he scored for us last season.
“He’s a great player and hopefully he does well at Dromara, but I’d love to get him back one day.”
