A ‘gut-wrenching’ result

“GUT wrenching” is how Newmarket captain Enda Barrett described Sunday’s result. “It hasn’t hit yet and I don’t think it will hit home until we wake up tomorrow morning,” he said as he headed for home after the game.

“We dug deep in the first half,” he said but admitted, “De La Salle dominated most of the half but we were just a point behind at half-time.

“We came out in the second half and dominated the half. It was sickening to lose it the way we did.”
Commenting on his side’s near miss for a goal midway through the second half, he said, “It was a great move but the ball came off the crossbar. I suppose it was meant to be. If it was an inch either way it would have gone over or into the net but it came straight back out. That’s the luck of the draw, I suppose.

“If we had got the goal, we would probably be celebrating now but De La Salle have got to the final.”
Newmarket’s season isn’t over, he quickly pointed out. “We will contest the Clare Champion Cup final and that is something we want to win. We will lick our wounds for a day or two and then it’s back to business again.”

Barrett agreed, “This experience should stand to us going forward. Playing in Munster is a big deal. We will take great belief from this.”

The team’s centre-back stressed, “It has been a great year up to now and our year is not over yet. We want the double [championship and league]. It hasn’t been done in a while and that’s our focus now.”
The Newmarket skipper believes the Clare champions will learn from this experience. “After the cup final we will take a month or two off and then plan for next season. We will analyse and hopefully get better. We will take it one step at a time. Next season is a long way away yet,” he concluded.