Newmarket bowed out of this years EPS Bison Duhallow hurling championship, when Banteer emerged clear winners by 2-15 to 2-8, in the replayed second round tie played at windswept Millstreet on Saturday evening.

Newmarket began very brightly and John Lane tapped over a point within a minute with Brian Daly adding on another with a fine long range free in the fourth minute. A frantic opening period continued and Banteer responded with three points in as many minutes with Maurice Feehan tieing the scores again in the eleventh minute. Banteer edged in front again and began to assume supremacy at this stage. Newmarket defended stoutly with John Ryan in fine form throughout the game. John McSweeney, Pa O’Brien and Nicky Flanagan hurled well in the full back line as Banteer added two more points. As the half entered the final ten minutes team captain Tony O’Keeffe and John Lane pointed for Newmarket to reduce the arrears to a minimum. Banteer added two points in quick succession before Brian Daly again found the target from long range. Injury time proved decisive for Banteer as they added a point and crucially in the last action of the half they struck for a goal after John Ryan produced another impressive save, and they turned over in front by 1-9 to 0-6.

Newmarket needed the next few scores but it was Banteer who increased their advantage with two points in eleven minutes. Newmarket sprung Denys O’Brien from the bench and he made an immediate impact when a powerful drive from long range nestled into the roof of the Banteer net. Banteer hit back with a point before Kevin O’Sullivan pointed a long range free for Newmarket which left the score at 1-12 to 1-7 entering the final quarter. Once more Banteer pointed, before Newmarket were given a ray of real hope when substitute Shane Murphy netted to leave just three points the difference. However, Newmarkets hopes were quenched within seconds when the defending Duhallow champions goalled to seal the issue. They added a couple of excellent long range points before a battling Newmarket had the final score of the game with Kevin O’Sullivan scoring a close in free.

John Ryan
Nicky Flanagan		John McSweeney		Pa O’Brien
Niall O’Connor		Brian Daly (0-2)		Anthony Crowley
	Kevin O’Sullivan (0-2)		Barry O’Leary
Maurice Feehan (0-1)		Tony O’Keeffe (0-1)		Shane Anthony Murphy
John Lane (0-2)		Michael Kenneally		Donnacha O’Dea
SUBS: Denys O’Brien (1-0), Shane Murphy (1-0)