The Newmarket minors were defeated recently by a Kanturk side in good conditions in Kanturk by 2-15 to 1-10.

Kanturk started the game in whirlwind fashion scoring in the first half at almost every opportunity hitting just 2 wides in the first half as opposed to Newmarket’s 7. The home side began with two points in as many minutes but Ivan King replied to make it 2 points to 1 after 5 minutes. Kanturk took control of the game then and scored one goal and seven unanswered with some high quality scores during the purple patch leaving it 1-8 to 0-1 after 20 minutes. Newmarket battled but could not put the points on the board until Luke McCarthy broke the Kanturk sequence with a point from an acute angle. Kanturk replied swiftly but Newmarket finished the half with the final say. The inspirational Nicky Barrett pointed from a huge distance and the outstanding Jack Birthley hit the last point of the half leaving it 1-9 to 0-4 at the turnover.

The second half began with David Enright scoring after a minute. Kanturk replied instantly with a point. The hard working Johnathon Flaherty was rewarded for his hard work with a point which was quickly followed by a Timmy O’ Keeffe point.

Kanturk replied again as the second half was turning into a nip and tuck affair. Ivan King hit his second and third points in quick succession leaving the score line 1-11 to 0-9 as Newmarket looked a different team in the second half, playing some good hurling now. Kanturk created a bit of leeway between the sides as they got the next three points. Newmarket battled gamely though and David Enright got his second of the night. Again Kanturk quickly cancelled this out with two more points.

Newmarket did give themselves a small chance of a comeback as Timmy Keeffe worked hard to score a good goal. This left the score 2-15 to 1-10 with five minutes to go. This turned out to be the final score of the game. Newmarket can be proud of their efforts in the second half. It was a spirited and gallant performance and with a bit of luck there is no doubt Newmarket would have been much closer having missed a few goal chances throughout the game. There were a few fine individual performances; Jack Birthley and Nicky Barrett were excellent in defence while Timmy O’ Keefe and Ivan King performed admirably throughout. In the end the home side came out on top on a final score line of 2-15 to 1-10 in the final game before the exams.

The Newmarket team was…

Shane McAuliffe
Paudie Allen		Mikey O’ Leary		Billy Lane
Patrick Kelly		Jack Birthley (0-1)		Nicky Barrett (0-1)
	David Enright (0-2)		Conor Keppell
Vinny Molloy		Timmy O’ Keeffe (1-1)		Ivan King (0-3)
Luke McCarthy (0-1)		Johnathon Flaherty (0-1)		Danny O’ Connell
Sub: Con McAuliffe