Heartbreaking conclusion for battling Newtown

Newtownshandrum 2-15 Midleton 1-19

AS traumatic defeats go, they don’t come any more devastating than this.

Having made a bold bid to upset the odds against hotly-fancied Midleton, refusing to wilt after losing a player midway through the second half, Newtownshandrum had their County SHC ambitions shelved for another year when they conceded two points deep in stoppage time at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Saturday.

Forging ahead for the first time, 1-2 to 0-2, courtesy of a goal from Tim O’Mahony in the ninth minute, Newtown held the lead until the interval, turning over 1-8 to 0-8 to the good.

They remained in front throughout the third quarter, and, with their defiant defence coping well as a unit with the threat from the Midleton attack, things were shaping up promisingly for the North-Cork men until the 45th minute.

A rare moment of sluggishness at the back allowed Midleton’s Conor Beausang to first-time a ground ball, that should have been cleared, to the net, leaving Newtown trailing by 1-12 to 1-11 at that juncture.

Two minutes later, Newtown wing-back Michael Thompson was red-carded before a brace of Conor Lehane’s points, the first from a free, stretched Midleton’s advantage to three approaching the last ten minutes.

It seemed as if the contest had swung irrevocably in Midleton’s favour when they twice went four points up coming down the home stretch, but Newtown had other ideas, and it came as no surprise to selector Gary Morrissey that their challenge didn’t peter out tamely on the run-in.

“I never felt the game was gone from us, because these lads have remarkable character, and I knew if we could get one ball into Tim [O’Mahony], we’d have a chance to stick a goal,” Morrissey said, adding that bringing on Donagh Stack also gave Newtown ‘a great outlet’ in attack.

As things transpired, O’Mahony and Stack combined to rekindle Newtown’s hopes in the 59th minute when O’Mahony, with a spectacular catch and a smart lay-off, set up Stack for a brilliantly finished goal.

O’Mahony’s aerial proficiency then led to an opening for a converted free by Jamie Coughlan, who slotted over another placed ball to bring Newtown within sight of victory three minutes into stoppage time.

It was cruelly snatched from their grasp, however, after Conor Lehane levelled matters from a free and the impressive Conor Beausang, fed by Luke O’Farrell, posted the decisive score for the East Cork side with virtually the last puck of the match.

“It’s never nice to lose a game in the 64th minute, but we’d be very proud of the lads, and I’d like to think we are moving in the right direction after this performance from what is a very young team,” commented Gary Morrissey as he attempted to draw the positives from Newtown’s heartbreaking defeat.

He revealed that, while Newtown went into the game as rank outsiders, there was widespread belief inside the group they were well capable of winning.

“We feel there’s a lot of quality there and although we respected Midleton, we didn’t fear them at all, because we were very confident we’d perform on the day,” Morrissey stated.

Perform Newtown certainly did, and perhaps this was their most encouraging display at the top level since their fortunes went into decline following the last of their four title triumphs in 2009.

It was ignited by Tim O’Mahony’s goal – resulting from good work by Jerry Lane, Mattie Ryan and especially Jamie Coughlan – and, as Midleton struggled to erase the deficit, the longer the game progressed, the more likely an upset looked on the cards.

Newtown were full value for their lead at the end of a first half in which Sean Griffin, with two points, and midfielder Mattie Ryan got on the scoresheet from play.

Ryan’s point came about following an opening created by Tim O’Mahony, whose ball-winning ability up front was a major weapon in Newtown’s armoury, as was Jamie Coughlan’s free-taking expertise.

Elsewhere, Mattie Ryan put in a solid shift at midfield, while Newtown had no glaring weak link in defence where full back Jack Herlihy did well to limit the impact from Midleton’s marquee forward Conor Lehane.

Luke O’Farrell achieved most in attack for Midleton before the break, but Lehane was more involved on moving to centre-forward for the second half, even if his shooting wasn’t up to its normal standard.

He clocked up the bulk of Midleton’s six second half wides as the picture continued to look bright for Newtown until Conor Beausang’s goal and Michael Thompson’s dismissal combined to alter the complexion of the contest considerably.

That they almost managed to triumph over adversity in a gripping conclusion made it easy to appreciate why Newtown deserved better than to be pipped at the post and have their hopes of a first semi final appearance since 2011 so tantalisingly thwarted.

MIDLETON: T Wallace; S O’Farrell, F O’Mahony, P O’Farrell; S Smyth, S O’Leary-Hayes, J Nagle; P Haughney (0-1), C Walsh; L O’Farrell (0-4), P Nagle, P White (0-1); S O’Meara, C Lehane (0-8, 5f), C Beausang (1-4) Subs: E Moloney for P O’Farrell (injured), 24, T O’Connell (0-1) for P Nagle, ht, G Manley for O’Meara, 46, A Ryan for White, 57.

NEWTOWNSHANDRUM: J Bowles; J O’Mahony, J Herlihy, K O’Sullivan; D Hawe, C Twomey, M Thompson; D Guiney, M Ryan (0-1); J Lane, T O’Mahony (1-0), R Clifford (0-1); S Griffin (0-2), J Coughlan (0-11f), J Geary Subs: E Coughlan for J O’Mahony (injured), 42, D Stack (1-0) for Geary, 52, S Ypoung for Lane, 48.

REFEREE: N Wall (Carrigaline)