Newmarket get better of Nemo

Newmarket 1-16 Nemo Rangers 1-14

NEWMARKET dug in to hold out for a deserved victory over Nemo Rangers to a fiery County JAHC Round 1 encounter in Mallow on Friday night.

By doing so, Newmarket banished the blues from a poor divisional final performance and smarted from a defeat at the hand of Dromtariffe to hit winning ways. Not for the first time, Newmarket held an up ace up their sleeve, again Donal Hannon delivered a master class in finishing, his 1-12 tally punished indiscretions with unerring accuracy.

Far from a one man showing, there was a hardened determination about Newmarket, that was impossible to ignore with superior hurling evident throughout the field. Tagged as outsiders going into the game, Newmarket ignored their rating against the back to back city champions.

At times, this contest proved to be a feisty affair, the heat on the field boiled over though match referee Liam O’Riordan was content to issue a spate of yellow cards. Showing four changes in personnel from their Duhallow Final defeat, Newmarket began at a whirlwind pace, Hannon pointing a pair with Cian Crowley and Barry O’Connor also on target.

During those early exchanges, Newmarket had let their hurling do the talking before Nemo reacted from pointed frees by Shane Horgan and minor player James Allen to force parity.

Newmarket weren’t found wanting, the play of Paudie Allen, Aidan Browne and John Ryan conspicuous in defence, Jack Guiney and Seán Meehan enjoyed a stranglehold in the centre of the park to storm forward time and again.

That allowed Newmarket mount a series of raids, Cathal Browne pointed and with the Nemo rearguard prone to fouling, Hannon reeled off points from placed balls. Pity about an unsightly skirmish that threatened to boil over but when the action resumed, Nemo appeared to react promptly for brothers Alan and Kevin O’Donovan to point.

Newmarket put the brakes on the surge, helped enormously by an opportunist goal, Hannon’s 70m free threaded a path to the Nemo net. Just when it appeared, the momentum was with Newmarket, Nemo kept their head, they were right back into the contest after Shane Martin found the net for a goal.

Still Newmarket reached the interval ahead, Hannon delivered pointed frees, holding a 1-11 to 1-8 advantage was a just reward for Newmarket’s toil and sharper attacking instincts. After an eventful opening half, by comparison, the second half was flat yet the uncertainty about the outcome maintained interest.

Likewise, the scoring rate dropped appreciably, Nemo points by Kevin O’Donovan and Horgan matched by a Hannon pair. Nemo struggled upfront where they laboured to add to their tally more frequently, finding the close marking of the Newmarket defensive unit a difficult proposition to contend with.

After the sides swapped points by Niblock and Hannon, it allowed Newmarket continue to shade the scoreboard. For the best part, it was a case of energetic endeavour rather than flowery hurling as Newmarket stretched their position, back to back points from Hannon helped build up a 1-16 to 1-11 lead with 10 minutes remaining.

To their credit, Nemo never threw in the towel, taking encouragement from the play of Conor O’Donovan, Stephen Cronin and Barry Cripps. And the city champions were rewarded for their battling efforts with a trio of points from Shane Horgan.

As the contest played to a close, Nemo did everything possible to get the additional scores to secure a reprieve. And though, it was backs to the wall stuff for the remaining few minutes for the Newmarket defence, they coped well and in all honesty, Newmarket looked like, they wanted victory more to maintain an interest in a competitive championship.

NEWMARKET: D Kearney; A Browne, A Ryan, P Allen; J Ryan, M Cottrell, K O’Sullivan; J Guiney, S Meehan; C Crowley 0-1, C Browne 0-1, D Hannon 1-12(1-9f, 0-2’65); B O’Connor 0-1, C O’Keeffe, R O’Keeffe 0-1 Subs: P Browne for B O’Connor, N Collins for C O’Keeffe, D O’Keeffe for C Browne

NEMO RANGERS: J Masters; S Cronin, C O’Donovan, J Cowhig; B Cripps, A O’Donovan 0-1, J Lyons; J Horgan, E Dolloughrey; S Horgan 0-7(0-5f), S Martin 1-0, D Niblock 0-2; C Horgan, K O’Donovan 0-2, J Allen 0-2f

REFEREE: L O’Riordan (Belgooly)