This article is from page 55 of the 2008-10-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 55 JPG
THE wait will go on. The hurt etched into faces of the Newmarket players as they left Cusack Park on Sunday suggested the pain of this defeat will not be easily erased either. There will have been moments, when for Newmarket supporters, too long liv- ing on the ever fading memory of a rich past, that they will have believed that this was the day when the Blues would announce their comeback.
The odds were stacked in their fa- vour. They had the players. They had the panel. They had been there be- fore.
When Martin Murphy crashed to the net, it looked like a rich new chapter of Newmarket hurling was about to unfold before our eyes. But Clonlara stayed cool and stayed in the game. The second half started and Newmarket had the wind. They reeled off three early points. Mo- mentum was building and it looked firmly behind Newmarket. But the power of the wind died a little and
the game entered one of those tense phases when games are won and lost. Newmarket dropped off. Cyclone Clonlara gathered strength. Darach Honan and John Conlon pounded the Blues. Tommy Lynch was eve- rywhere. In midfield, things had gone ominously quiet for Newmar- ket whereas Clonlara were zipping passes hard and fast inside to their dangermen.
Newmarket had no platform to build from. They stopped creating good chances. When they ran at Clonlara, they were ushered down blind allies or knocked off their feet.
Newmarket fans feared the worst. Those nagging doubts about their team’s resolve on the big days re- surfaced. Their fears came to pass. Darach Honan nailed a point in the final seconds. The Blues were cooked. Beaten by a team who want- ed it more.
It was quiet, dead quiet, outside the Newmarket dressing room after- wards. Manager Diarmuid O’Leary was one of the last to leave. He was
gracious in defeat and echoed his Clonlara counterpart, Jim Gully, and the point he made about hunger. “No complaints, the hungrier team won, simple as that, more power to them”, said O’Leary.
“We had the lead but we didn’t drive on. Fair play to them and more power to them. Best of luck to them in the Munster Championship”
O’Leary was forewarned about what to expect from Clonlara. They have impressed him all year.
“IT seen them against Scariff and they were very very impressive. They came through a tough campaign last year. They have a lot of hurling done. They are a good bunch of lads. They have the medals to prove it”.
So the wait goes on for a 23rd sen- ior title goes on for another year at least and the questions about New- market’s nerve continue. Will the Blues be back’?
“There’s no fear of Newmarket, no fear of Newmarket. Ah, with the help of God, they’ll stick at it”, said O’Leary.