Newmarket were defeated by Kilbrin in the first round of the Duhallow under 21 football championship, an entertaining contest ending 2-9 to 0-11 in freezing conditions under a floodlit Millstreet pitch on Sunday night.

Newmarket were first on the scoreboard when Luke McCarthy slotted over a free in the sixth minute with Kilbrin gaining parity four minutes later through similar means.

The industrious Ian Flanagan edged Newmarket in front again before Kilbrin struck for a goal in the fifteenth minute after a quickly taken free reaped its rewards. Kilbrin put a clear goal between the sides with a point in the twenty second minute.

Newmarket werewell marshalled in the full back line with Paudie Allen particularly outstanding throughout the game. Newmarket gained momentum at this stage and Patrick Kelly pointed before Ian Flanagan landed a glorious score from distance. The sides exchanged points with Ian Flanagan again on target before Kilbrin ended the scoring for the half to go into the interval with a lead of 1-4 to 0-5.

The second half resumed with Kilbrin increasing their advantage with a pointimmediately upon the restart. Luke McCarthy cut the deficit on converting a free two minutes later. Kilbrin doubled their advantage with successive points but Newmarket had the next score with a well taken point from Bryan O’Connell. The sides then swapped points with the impressive Gavin Forde on target for Newmarket.

As the game entered the final ten minutes critically, Kilbrin struck for a well executed second goal and put a clear six points between the sides. Newmarket to their credit refused to relent. Ian Flanagan strode forward with purpose throughout and kicked over his fourth point of the evening.

Eddie Allen kicked two fine scores either side of a Kilbrin point as Newmarket kept on pressing, but eventually time ran out and Newmarket now enter the draw for round two.

The Newmarket team and scorers…
Patrick Kelly (0-1), Ian Flanagan (0-4), Bryan O’Connell (0-1), Gavin Forde (0-1), Eddie Allen (0-2), Luke McCarthy (0-2)

David Quinlan
Paudie Allen		Michael O’Leary		Anthony Lynch
Patrick Kelly		Brendan Stack		David Enright
	Ian Flanagan		Conor Cronin
Bryan O’Connell		Gavin Forde		Eddie Allen
Kieran Lehane		Luke McCarthy		Nicky Barrett
Subs: T.J. Brosnan, Jacko Flaherty, Con McAuliffe.