Despite a much improved second half performance, Newmarket went down to a second successive heavy defeat in the Ducon Cup, this time away to Dromtariffe by 2-15 to 0-6 on a bright but cool Saturday afternoon.

Dromtariffe flew out of the blocks and within five minutes had already put three points on the scoreboard. Newmarket were unlucky not to make a breakthrough in the tenth minute after the impressive Daniel Culloty saw his powerful goal bound shot strike an upright but Jeremy Murphy reacted fastest to regain possession and pass to Michael Kenneally who swung over a fine point from out on the right hand sideline.

Dromtariffe added a fourth point before Newmarket scored a second point, this time Eddie Allen supplying a fine finish midway through the half. Dromtariffe were ruthless in attack during the next ten minutes. A converted free in the seventeenth minute was followed by the games opening goal. The home side attacked at will and five points in as many minutes effectively killed off the contest. Given the opportunity, Newmarket did have positive moments in attack. Daniel Culloty slotted over a free before Barry O’Connor pointed in style from an angle. Newmarket’s faint hopes disappeared with Dromtariffe bagging a second goal as the half entered the closing moments to hold a 2-10 to 0-4 lead at the interval.

Daniel Culloty kicked a superb point within two minutes of the restart for Newmarket. A readjusted defence settled and looked far more confident as the game progressed in the second half. The scoring rate dropped but again Dromtariffe proved more clinical as they added three points to their tally in the third quarter. The scoreboard failed to reflect a much better performance by Newmarket and a free from Luke McCarthy with ten minutes remaining proved to be their final score on the day. Daniel Culloty stood out in the forward division with Michael Kenneally, Barry O’Connor and Jeremy Murphy toiling well throughout. In defence Gavin Forde, Brendan Stack and Padraig Allen were to the fore but in the end Newmarket faced a near impossible task following Dromtariffe’s huge interval advantage but competed valiantly to the conclusion.

The Newmarket team and scorers…

Daniel Culloty (0-2), Barry O’Connor (0-1), Michael Kenneally (0-1), Eddie Allen (0-1), Luke McCarthy (0-1).

Kieran Lehane
Paudie Allen		Niall O’Connor		Michael O’Leary
Matthew Fitzpatrick		Gavin Forde		Stephen Stokes
	Conor Cronin		Brendan Stack
Barry O'Connor		Michael Kenneally		Jonathan Flaherty
Eddie Allen		Daniel Culloty		Jeremy Murphy
Subs: Donnacha Fitzpatrick, Anthony Lynch, Luke McCarthy