The Reds - still searching a first goal in front of the new stand at Solitude - thought they had taken the lead after six minutes only for assistant referee Gareth Eakin to rule Stephen O'Neill's header out for offside.

But it was Newry who came closest to breaking the deadlock inside the opening half-an-hour or so when Chris Morgan fired just wide while Stephen Garrett forced John Connolly into a full length diving save.

The Reds came close again when a Mark Holland header produced the best from Paul Murphy while, at the other end, Morgan just couldn't get a strong enough connection to a ball into the area allowed Connolly to gather safely.

The visitors came within a whisker of finding a way through three minutes into the second half when a Paul Donegan header from a Richard Clarke bar struck the crossbar.

Both sides ended with ten men following a late altercation between Rory Hamill and Cullen Feeney which saw both men red carded by referee Mark Courtney.