Soccer

Newington captain Richard Gowdy ready for Irish Cup tilt with Ballymena United

Richard Gowdy (centre) accepts responsibility for Newington's slump
Richard Gowdy (centre) accepts responsibility for Newington's slump Richard Gowdy (centre) accepts responsibility for Newington's slump

Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup sixth round: Ballymena United v Newington (Today, Ballymena Showgrounds, 3pm)

TERENCE McNaughton and Mickey Culbert occasionally argue over who coined the phrase first: You’ve got to look in the mirror before looking out the window.

It was a metaphor for accepting responsibility in a team environment before pointing the finger of blame.

Speaking ahead of today’s Irish Cup trip to Ballymena United, Newington captain Richard Gowdy has been staring in the mirror for the last number of weeks.

After a bright start to their debut season in the Championship, the north Belfast men have slipped into the relegation zone after a five-game losing streak.

But rather than point the finger of blame, Gowdy candidly accepts his responsibility as one of the leaders in the Newington team.

“You definitely notice the step up in quality from the PIL,” says the west Belfast man, who also plays Gaelic football for O’Donovan Rossa.

“There are no easy games in the Championship. But, if I’m being brutally honest, I think we’ve under-performed in a lot of games and I hold myself to account. I’ve had a pretty poor season and I’m not going to use the opposition as an excuse. I just haven’t been at it. I just need to be better.

“I never really put myself down as a confidence player. I turned up and played the same way every week, but after the Knockbreda game at the start of January, the next three or four games I’ve been as poor as I’ve been in my career.

“My confidence was in my boots. I couldn’t pick myself up at all. I was trying to do the same things I’ve always done, in terms of work-rate and energy, that was always going to be a constant for me. But just the actual quality on the ball, you’re second-guessing every single decision. That was as bad as I’ve ever experienced it and I’ve realised just how important confidence is to a team.

“But confidence can be a light switch at times. Once you get a win, everyone is buzzing, the training’s different, match-days are different. And I believe that win is just around the corner for us because we’re capable of putting a wee run together. Over the past couple of games, we’ve deserved more than what we’ve got.”

The double Steel & Sons Cup winners surprised many in the PIL by winning the division last season before stepping up a grade in quality to the Championship where they’ve found the going tough since the turn of the year.

“I’m not hitting the panic button yet, even though we haven’t won a league game since the middle of December but I've confident in the team.

“We’re trying to force the ball into the net at the minute and it’s just not happening and then we’re conceding silly goals. But if we get ‘Gazza’ [Gary Warwick] or ‘Stu’ [Darren Stuart] amongst the goals again I’m confident we’ll start picking up points.”

The sides met in the Co Antrim Shield back in September when David Jeffrey’s men needed a late goal to see off Newington in a keenly fought contest at Solitude.

“This match is a good distraction for us because the pressure is all on Ballymena,” said Gowdy.

“We can actually go out and play with a bit of freedom. Now, we’re not going out to sit back and absorb pressure for 90 minutes and hope that someone pulls something out of the bag. It’s a game of football: 11 men v 11 men.

“We’re playing Championship football now and we have to give a good account of ourselves. It’s not that we’re a wee Amateur League team coming up against Ballymena; we have to demand more of ourselves.”

Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup sixth round (3pm unless stated): Ballymena United v Newington, Cliftonville v Coleraine, Glenavon v H&W Welders, Institute v Ballyclare, Knockbreda v Dungannon Swifts (1.30pm), Portadown v Glentoran, Larne v Linfield