This article is from page 60 of the 2011-07-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 60 JPG
Newmarket-on-Fergus 6-14 – Crusheen 1-12 at Fr Murphy Memorial Park, Newmarket-on-Fergus
NEWMARKET TOOK a leaf out of Galway’s book on Sunday by ruthlessly going for the jugular against table toppers Crusheen. The Blues six goal haul in one hour equalled what the county champions had conceded in their previous seven Clare Cup games combined but more importantly sent out a clear message that they are still very much in the hunt for this year’s prize.
Admittedly, both teams were understrength with Crusheen’s losses of county seniors Pat Vaughan, Cian Dillon and Donal Tuohy significant in the wake of the final scoreline. Still Newmarket, without the influential Barrett brothers themselves, could only beat what was put in front of them and spent little time in carving open Crusheen’s vunerable rearguard.
Two Shane O’Brien points inside the opening 90 seconds were soon cancelled out by Gearoid and Conor O’Donnell. However by the sixth minute, Newmarket made the goalscoring breakthrough when O’Brien was fouled by Tony Meaney on his way to goal and Colin Ryan duly dispatched the 20 metre free to the net.
A second followed in the 14th minute when Ryan’s lineball from the right proved too hot to handle and full-forward Anthony Kilmartin was in the right place to punish from close range. In fact, their purple patch could have yielded further damage only for goalkeeper Briain Dillon who made a double save to deny Colin Ryan another 20 metre free at the end of the opening quarter.
However, the home side took their foot off the gas for the remainder of the half and it allowed Crusheen to sneak back into the game with the aid of Ciaran O’Doherty’s frees, the hardworking Gearoid O’Donnell and substitute Paddy Meaney.
By the 26th minute, three unan- swered points had cut the deficit to five at 2-6 to 0-7 but the turning point of the game came on the 30 minute mark when Ciaran O’Doherty’s penalty was stopped by Newmarket goalkeeper Kieran Devitt.
Had they got that goal, the game might have developed in a different direction but instead, a reinvigorated Newmarket came out firing on the restart and within a minute had a third goal on the board. The move of the match saw what should have been a Crusheen score countered by a Darren O’Connor long delivery that was expertly flicked into the path of the overlapping Darren Duggan by Anthony Kilmartin and the young forward made no mistake.
That suckerpunch was followed up by four Colin Ryan points before Duggan scored his second goal in the 39th minute to stretch their lead to 13. Credit Crusheen for replying immediately as Paddy Meaney found the net but their mini-recovery was ransacked by a brace of Shane O’Brien goals as Newmarket eased alongside their opponents at the summit of Division 1. Their final round game against Sixmilebridge at the weekend, in what is a repeat of last year’s final, will simply be compelling viewing.
Newmarket- on- Fergus
Kieran Devitt, Shane O’Brien Jnr, Stephen Kelly, Padraig Kilmartin, Darren O’Connor, James McInerney, Sean O’Connor (0-1), Colin Ryan (1-8 1-6f), Martin O’Hanlon, Enda Kelly (0-1), Shane O’Brien (2-3), Noel Frawley (0-1), Darren Duggan (2-0),Anthony Kilmartin (1-0),Tommy Griffin
Subs
Neil Ryan for O’Hanlon (34 mins), Niall Enright for Griffin (53 mins), James Liddy for Duggan (57 mins), Martin Frawley for O’Brien Jnr (57 mins)
Crusheen
Briain Dillon, John Brigdale, Cronan Dillon,Alan Brigdale, Shaun Dillon, Ciaran O’Doherty (0-3 2f, 1’65), Cathal Dillon, Gerry O’Grady (0-2 1f),Tony Meaney, Gearoid O’Donnell (0-1), Fergus Kennedy, Jamie Fitzgibbon (0-1f), Conor O’Donnell (0-2), Paddy O’Grady, Darragh O’Doherty
Subs
Paddy Meaney (1-2) for D. O’Doherty (25 mins),AlanTuohy (0-1) for S. Dillon (42 mins), Niall Fitzgibbon for P. O’Grady (45 mins), Conor Hayes for A. Brigdale (49 mins)
Man of the Match
Shane O’Brien Snr (Newmarket- on- Fergus) Referee Ambrose Heagney (Corofin)