A strong second half display enabled Castlemagner to get past a gallant and spirited Newmarket side by 2-10 to 2-5 in the Duhallow Junior B Hurling Championship quarter final clash played at Millstreet on Sunday afternoon.

Newmarket got off to a great start when the excellent David Enright converted a long range free. The Newmarket defence had to withstand a barrage of early Castlemagner pressure but contained their opponents to two points after nine minutes. Newmarket eventually came to terms with their opponents with David Guiney, Timothy Murphy and David Enright to the fore. Newmarket received a considerable boost when a long range effort from midfielder Brian Daly found the net in the sixteenth minute after some fine approach play involving Donnacha Fitzpatrick and Vinny Molloy. Within two minutes Newmarket had a second goal after a scramble in the Castlemagner square ended with Kieran Lehane pulling the ball to the net from the edge of the square. Newmarket had the ascendancy at this stage and Vinny Molloy converted a free to put two clear goals between the sides. The half concluded without any further score which left Newmarket with an advantage of 2-2 to 0-2 at the halfway mark.

Castlemagner turned around a different team for the second half. Within eight minutes the sides were level after a spell that yielded a goal and three points to Castlemagner. Newmarket struggled to make an impact in the second half but David Enright edged them in front again with a pointed free, thirteen minutes into the half. A crucial turning point came five minutes later, after a long delivery broke in the Newmarket square, Castlemagner swept the rebound to the net for a second goal and they regained the lead, 2-5 to 2-3. They added two further points as the game entered the final ten minutes. Newmarket battled gamely to the end with Bryan O’Connell in fine form during the second half. Jack Birtley reduced the deficit on pointing a free and when Brian Daly snapped a point from close range, just two points separated the sides, late in the game. It was Castlemagner however who powered to the finish line with three impressive quickfire points closing out victory.

The Newmarket team was…

Kieran Hayes
Donnacha Fitzpatrick		Brendan Stack		David Guiney
David Enright (0-2)		Timothy Murphy		Bryan O’Connell
	Brian Daly (1-1)		Jack Birtley (0-1)
Kieran Lehane (1-0)		David Quinlan		Vinny Molloy (0-1)
Denis McCarthy		Michael O’Neill		Nicky Barrett
SUBS: Billy Daly