Newmarket went down in their second league outing of the week away to Cullen on Thursday evening where the home side emerged victorious by 3-9 to 3-7.

Cullen opened the scoring thanks to an excellent point from distance in the opening stages but Newmarket were boosted when a speculative effort from Nicky Barrett found the back of the Cullen net in the third minute. It was Cullen however who enjoyed the better of the early stages, two quick fire points restored parity before the home side were awarded a penalty in the eighth minute which was dispatched expertly to the net. A further point gave Cullen a four point advantage by the tenth minute. Jack Birtley surged forward to kick a fine score for Newmarket and Luke McCarthy added a pointed free to cut the deficit, 1-4 to 1-2 after eighteen minute. The sides exchanged the next two points with Vinny Molloy chipping over a neat point from a narrow angle for Newmarket. Gavin Forde was next on target as Newmarket came to within a point of their hosts. Cullen had the next two points before once again Gavin Forde pointed for Newmarket. It was Cullen who finished the half strongly; they added a second goal and a further point to turnover in front by 2-8 to 1-5.

Newmarket resumed with Nicky Barrett kicking an excellent point but amazingly this proved to be the only score of the half in a twenty two minute spell. Cullen appeared to take the game out of reach when once more finding the net from the penalty spot and a additional point gave them a lead of nine points with seven minutes remaining. Newmarket, driven on by the efforts of Michael O’Leary, Jack Birtley, Nicky Barrett and Gavin Forde kept battling to the end. Firstly, Paudie Allen pointed before Gavin Forde finished clinically to the corner of the Cullen net for a well taken goal. Cullen had the next score from a point but a grandstand finish was assured when David Enright scored an absolutely wonderfully struck goal to the top corner of the net from distance in the closing minutes. This proved to be the final score as the home side held on for victory.

The Newmarket team was…

David Quinlan
	Timmy O’Flynn		Michael O’Leary
Billy Lane		Jack Birtley (0-1)		David Enright (1-0)
	Patrick Kelly		Conor Keppel
Nicky Barrett (1-1)		Luke McCarthy (0-1)		Vinny Molloy (0-1)
	Gavin Forde (1-2)		Timmy O’Keeffe
SUBS: Alan Ryan, Ivan King, Padraig Allen (0-1), Con McAuliffe, Eoin Murphy.