Under 21 footballers qualify for second successive Duhallow final
Newmarket’s under 21 footballers qualified for their second successive Duhallow final after they defeated Knocknagree by 0-16 to 1-9, in a high quality contest played at Cullen on Saturday evening, that kept supporters enthralled throughout.
Knocknagree opened the scoring when they pointed in the sixth minute. Newmarket responded with Nicky Flanagan finding the target and John Ryan converting a free after ten minutes. Knocknagree then breached the Newmarket defence with an unstoppeable shot finding the roof of the net for the games only goal. Newmarket recovered in style from this setback. John Ryan pointed before the magnificent Kevin O’Sullivan kicked two memorable points to tie the sides. John Ryan slotted over another two points and this was followed by another fine effort from Kevin O’Sullivan. A highly entertaining half ended with Knocknagree hitting two points, which left Newmarket narrowly in front by 0-8 to 1-4 at the interval.
A Knocknagree point restored parity for a third time five minutes into the second half before another point from the Kevin O’Sullivan master class edged Newmarket in front. The prolific John Ryan and Nicky Flanagan gave Newmarket a three point advantage but Knocknagree kicked back in impressive fashion. Three unanswered points left the score 0-11 to 1-8 as the game entered a gripping final quarter. Newmarket managed to step up a gear and a string of points followed. The unerring John Ryan was again on target before the lively John Lane scored a brace of points within a minute. Nicky Flanagan and a seventh John Ryan point put Newmarket in a five point lead but a late, close in Knocknagree free, deep into injury time resulted in the final score of the game. The final whistle followed and Newmarket were relieved to survive a very stern Knocknagree challenge.
The Newmarket team was….
Â
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| Niall O’Connor | ||||
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| Paul Cashman | Bart Daly | Brian O’Riordan | ||
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| Sean Doody | Micheal Murphy | Conor Cronin | ||
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| Kevin O’Sullivan (0-4) | Timothy Murphy | |||
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| John Ryan (0-7) | T.J. Bodie | Michael Kenneally | ||
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| John Lane (0-2) | Nicky Flanagan (0-3) | Ricky Reidy | ||
| SUBS: David Guiney, Micheal O’Connell | ||||
