Éilis Hourigan’s
NEWMARKET HURLERS OFF TO A BRILLIANT START
THE Newmarket Junior A Hurlers got their championship campaign off to the perfect start on Saturday last, the 8th of August, with a win over Millstreet.
While opposition got out of the blocks the quickest with two unanswered points, the reigning champions soon found their stride and led 1- 04 to 0- 03, on the tenth minute, thanks to a Conor O’Keeffe goal. Newmarket began to take control of the scoring, but they had to call on Darragh Kearney shortly after, to save a penalty from Millstreet’s Mark Ellis. This key moment of the half, allowed Newmarket to keep the opposition at bay and led 1-13 to 0- 06 at the interval.
The whistle for the second period had barely been blown, when Barry O’Connor put safe distance between the teams with a fine goal. This was soon followed by another from Donal Hannon, leaving the Rathcoole scoreboard read, 3-13 to 0- 08 and the contest all but over. Millstreet battled bravely for the remainder of the fixture, but Newmarket’s scoring accuracy confirmed the vital win, 3-22 to 0-12.
Newmarket now play Dromtarriffe in the next round, which has effectively become a semi-final match, due to Dromtarriffe’s previous victory over Millstreet.
Congratulations to Josh O’Keeffe and Mikey Browne on making their junior championship debuts.
Newmarket: Darragh Kearney, Josh O’Keeffe, Kevin O Sullivan, Paudie Allen, John Ryan, Mike Cottrell, Paddy Browne, Darren O’Keeffe, Alan Ryan, Donal Hannon, Gavin Forde, Conor O’Keeffe, Mikey Browne, Barry O’Connor, Ryan O’Keeffe.
Subs: Ben Newman, Donncha Fitzpatrick, Daniel Norton, Sean Murphy, Eddie Allen, Niall Collins, Cian Crowley, Dave Cottrell, Paudie O’Sullivan, Colin O’Sullivan, Cathal Browne, Aidan Browne, Stephen Stokes,
Shane McAuliffe.
The Newmarket Junior B hurlers rounded off a good weekend for the club by defeating Banteer on Sunday evening, the 9th August. With a 1- 07 to 0- 05 lead at half time, the Newmarket team didn’t let up, running out 3-14 to 0- 09 over the hosts.