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Newmarket stake claim to retain title


Newmarket players celebrate their first goal.
Newmarket Celtic A  2
Avenue Utd A  0

NEWMARKET Celtic A defeated their arch rivals Avenue United in this Premier League tie at McDonough Park on Sunday afternoon by 2-0.

The first half was a very tentative affair with goal chances at a minimum but this was not surprising as football action in the county has been disrupted of late due to the inclement weather. The second half saw both sides finding their feet and serving up a very entertaining 45 minutes of play.
Avenue came closest in the first half when Dave McCarthy and Barry Nugent both had efforts rebound off the crossbar.
The home side took the lead five minutes into the second half when a good cross into the visitors’ box was not dealt with and Enda Kelly shot home past the helpless Healy. This score spurred the Ennis side into action and the tempo of the game increased considerably bringing with it some very committed tussles.
Referee Padraic Sutton was kept busy and as the midpoint of the second half approached, he sent off the home side’s Michael Devitt.
Avenue looked to capitalise on their numerical advantage and centre-half David Russell looked to have tied things up only to see his effort cleared off the line following a corner.
The reigning champions secured the very important three points on offer when their best player on the day, Mark Donlon, scored a fine individual goal on 70 minutes when his effort from well inside his own half beat the unfortunate Healy in the Avenue goal.
This victory puts Newmarket in the driving seat for premiership honours and the result has dealt a blow to Avenue’s hopes of winning back the mantle of the being the top side in Clare.
Newmarket Celtic A: Jason Casey; David O’Grady, Mark Donlon, Enda Kelly, Darren Cullinan; Seamus Lawlor, Mike Devitt, Stephen Kelly, Eoin O’Brien; Ronan McCormack, Daithi O’Connell.
Subs: Colin Ryan for O’Connell; Paudie Hayes for Cullinan; Neil Ryan for McCormack.
Avenue United A: John Healy; Mattie Nugent, Simon Cuddy, Con Collins, David Russell; Alan Roche, David Smith, Colin Smith, Barry Nugent; Mikey Mahoney, David McCarthy.
Subs: Pa Wilson for Mahoney; Sean Corry for McCarthy.

 

Mountshannon Celtic  1
Hermitage A  1

HERMITAGE returned from Scariff happy with a share of the spoils as the home side had enjoyed the better of matters in the second half.
The Ennis outfit hit the front in the opening half when Paul Dullaghan scored. The home side recovered from this setback and levelled before the break, through Kevin Dooley.
Mountshannon had the better of the second-half exchanges when they played with the aid of the breeze but they were denied by the woodwork on a couple of occasions, while Hermitage goalie Eoin Slattery made some good stops.
Mountshannon Celtic: Colm Kavanagh; Andrew McNamara, Martin McNamara, Pádraig Brody, Joe Underwood; Keelan McNamara, Brian Rodgers, Cathal Moloney, Sam Slater, Kevin Dooley, Raymond Cahill.
Subs: Keith Finnerty.
Hermitage A: Eoin Slattery; Neil Mills, John Maher, Tola Crowe, Ritchie Fitzgerald, Ger Dullaghan, Liam Meaney, Eoin O’Meara-Daly, Eoin Ryan, Paul Dullaghan, Ritchie O’Brady.
Subs: David Moloney, Robert Dunne.

CRUSHEEN hurler Alan Brigdale scored the winner for Tulla United A as they defeated Ennis Town Rock at the Cragg on Sunday.
Ennis Town Rock started brightly and took the lead through Marty McLoughlin but the home side fought back and Darragh Corry levelled before the break after Seosamh O’Loughlin and Cillian Bane were involved in the move. A Shane Daniels goal for the visitors was disallowed near the end when the referee awarded a free out to the home team. Tulla also had a couple of good chances, which they failed to convert.
Tulla United: Paul Whelan; David McInerney, Niall Whelan, Denis Murphy, Brian McInerney,  Shane Mason, Darragh Corry, Cillian Bane, Seosamh O’Loughlin, Donal Doherty, Alan Brigdale.
Subs: Thomas McKeown, Padraic O’Malley, Noel Collins.
Ennis Town Rock: Stephen Loftus; Ronan Judge, Barry Woods, Shane Daniels, Jason White, Adrian Walsh, Ritchie Neylon, Daryl Eade, Francis Daniels, Marty McLoughlin, David Reidy.
Subs: Matthew Kearney, David Considine.

Clare League to decide

THE game between Burren United and Shannon Olympic A didn’t take place and the league executive will make a decision on this in the coming week.
The match was scheduled for Shannon but following a pitch inspection on Saturday by two referees in the presence of the Olympic chairman, the pitch was declared unplayable.
“On Saturday evening, sometime between 6pm and 6.30pm, Olympic were informed that the game was to go ahead at Lisdoonvarna (home venue for Burren). At such short notice, it wasn’t possible for us to rearrange with our players,” Olympic manager Donal Kirby told The Clare Champion.
Burren United and the referee were present in Lisdoonvarna on Sunday for the game.
“We had a brief discussion about this last night (Monday) and a decision on the game will be made by the executive in the coming weeks,” fixtures secretary Michael Lydon told The Clare Champion

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