Newmarket and Castlemagner travelled to Kilbrin on Friday night, the 10th of September, in Round 2 of the E. Tarrant and Sons sponsored Junior A Championship.

Having recovered to defeat Kilbrin in Round 1, Newmarket were looking for the win that would ensure they topped the group and progressed to the next stage.

A bright start from Newmarket, with frees from Gavin Forde and a point from play from Darren O’Keeffe, meant they lead by three points, in as many minutes. Castlemagner replied with a two points of their own, before Newmarket edged back in control, with a brace from Cathal Browne and a further score from Ryan O’Keeffe. A 15th minute Conor O’Keeffe free ensured his side lead 0-07 to 0-02, at the first water break. Castlemagner opened the scoring of the second quarter. This was followed by a series of scores from Mikey Browne, Cathal Browne and centre forward, Stephen Stokes, to stretch Newarket’s advantage out to seven points. A late Conor O’Keeffe point rounded off Newmarket’s dominance of the half, with the scoreboard reading 0-11 to 0-03, at the break.

Two early points from Conor O’Keeffe, pushed out lead out to double digits for the first time and only time in the match. In an attempt to reign in the opposition, Castlemagner struck a goal on 35 minutes. Newmarket replied with a brace from Cathal Browne, but Castlemagner then entered a purple patch, rattling off the next three scores, reducing the deficit to just five points, 0-15 to 1-07. A slow start to the final quarter was broken by points from Gavin Forde, Darren O’Keeffe and Conor O’Keeffe. Leading by 0-18 to 1-09 on 57 minutes, another Conor O’Keeffe point was quickly followed by Castlemagner’s second goal of the game, allowing them to close to within four points. On the 60 minute mark Gavin Forde added another free. This was quickly followed up by late points from Ryan and Conor O’Keeffe, ensuring their side rounded off a fine 0-22 to 2-09 win and progressed to the knockout stages.

The Newmarket team and scorers…

Conor O’Keeffe (0-7 ,1f), Cathal Browne (0-05), Gavin Forde (0-04, 3f), Darren O’Keeffe (0-02), Ryan O’Keeffe (0-02), Mikey Browne (0-01), Stephen Stokes (0-01). 

Ben Newman
Donnacha Fitzpatrick		Alan Ryan		Paudie Allen
Daniel Norton		John Ryan		Jamie Hayes
	Mikey Cottrell		Gavin Forde
Mikey Browne		Stephen Stokes		Cathal Browne
Darren O'Keeffe		Conor O'Keeffe		Ryan O'Keeffe
Subs: Colin O'Sullivan