In a repeat of the 2011 PIFC County final, Newmarket and Clyda Rovers squared off on Friday evening last, this time a grade higher, as the sides played out round 2 of the Senior A competition.

The Clyda men got off to the better start, racing into an early four point lead, with Daniel Culloty opening Newmarket’s account on five minutes. Culloty showed his accuracy again on thirteen minutes, cancelling out another Clyda point. The Mourneabbey side extended the lead to four, with Newmarket replying through Conor O’Keeffe and Daniel Culloty. The key moment of the half came on 21 minutes when a Clyda free met the upright, with the Avondhu men quickest to react and the collected ball coolly finished to the Newmarket net. As the half time approached, points from Paudie Allen and Conor O’Keeffe reduced the deficit to a goal, but wayward shooting in the closing stages failed to narrow the gap further. Clyda’s higher efficiency with the ball produced another score just before the short whistle, to lead 0-06 to 1-07 at the break.

As the case in the first half, Clyda opened the period brighter, outscoring Newmarket three points to one in the initial ten minutes, with Conor O’Keeffe on target for Newmarket. Daniel Culloty narrowed the gap on 42 minutes, but the Mourneabbey side kept the Kanturk scoreboard moving and lead 0-08 to 1-11, heading into the final quarter. A trio of well taken points from the aforementioned O’Keeffe (2) and Culloty put just a goal between the teams, with Clyda responding with a point of their own moments later. The end to end game ignited further when a turnover ball on 50 minutes was worked into the Clyda defense and expertly finished to the net by Conor O’Keeffe. With Newmarket growing into the ascendancy, the sides were level soon after through a fisted Barry O’Connor point. Clyda recaptured the lead in the following moments with O’Keeffe squaring the sides again on 54 minutes. As the clock turned to full-time, Newmarket’s Cillian Buttimer, who was only introduced moments before, collected the ball on the Clyda 45 meter mark and ran for goal. With a line of defenders in front of him, he curled over a fantastic point, to put his side ahead for the first time in the fixture. While Newmarket maintained control of the ball for the majority of the eight minutes of added time, Clyda were awarded a free and with the last kick of the game secured the draw, 1-14 a piece.

Clyda now switch their attentions to O’Donovan Rossa, with Newmarket moving on to play Ilen Rovers, in what are the final pairings of the round robin stage. While Clyda and O’Donovan Rossa hold the advantage in the group, no position is confirmed as of yet and Newmarket will look to securing the win and extending their championship into the knockout stages.

The Newmarket team and scorers…

Conor O’Keeffe (1-06, 2f), Daniel Culloty (0-05, 1f), Barry O’Connor (0-01),Paudie Allen (0-01), Cathal Buttimer (0-01).

Niall O’Connor
Mikey Browne		Gavin Forde		Paudie Allen
T. J. Brosnan		Alan Ryan		Bart Daly
	Cathal Browne		Mikey Cottrell
Darren O'Keeffe		Daniel Culloty		Kevin O'Sullivan
Conor O'Keeffe		Barry O'Connor		Aidan Browne
Subs: Daniel Norton for Bart Daly (35), David Cottrell for Kevin O'Sullivan (45), Cathal Buttimer (0-01) for Gavin Forde (55), Paddy Browne for TJ Brosnan (58), Tadhg Ryan for Aidan Browne (Blood 63)