Better-balanced Newmarket through to the last four

Newmarket 1-12   Tubber 0-8

DESPITE having to line out without two of their more experienced defenders in team captain Enda Barrett and Pádraig Kilmartin, Newmarket proved too strong for Tubber in their Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final at Clarecastle on Saturday.

While the Blues deserved their victory, Tubber will be disappointed that they didn’t make better use of the chances they created, particularly in the middle period of the second half when they held the upperhand but failed to find the target.

“We haven’t been in the knock-out stages for a few years so we are delighted to be in the semi-final. We deserved our win. We worked very hard. Tubber showed great heart and spirit and kept going but we had a six-point lead at half-time and managed to keep that throughout the second half,” Newmarket manager Bob Enright said after the game.

Asked about the injuries that left his side short a few regulars for this outing, he said, “In any campaign, different lads will be unavailable from time to time and different lads will step in. We were missing a few today but others came in and got their chance.

“We are certainly working hard and we are really looking forward to the semi-final and giving it our best shot,” the Ennis-based teacher said.

Tubber boss Pat O’Connor was “disappointed” with the second half. “We could have made it a lot closer. If we were to compete, we could never allow a gap to develop but it did. We played reasonably well. We had a lot of possession but we didn’t make good use of it. There was a lot of wastage.”

The former Clare star added, “For the likes of us to compete against Newmarket, we need to do everything right. Everything has to work for us and it didn’t. We couldn’t fault the players. They fought tooth and nail for everything. We had a couple of injuries going into the game. We have lost a few players and it made it tight for us.”

Overall, O’Connor believes Tubber  have made a great deal of progress. “Three years ago, we fought relegation. Last year, we could have qualified. It’s a learning curve. The players gave everything and you can’t ask anything more. We have a Senior B final to look forward to.”

Newmarket, playing with the aid of the breeze, took an early lead but two Blaine Earley efforts had the sides level by the 10th minute. Tubber failed to convert the first of two good goal chances three minutes later and the winners were two clear at the end of the opening quarter. Newmarket had the upperhand in the second quarter, scoring five points without reply to lead 0-9 to 0-3 at the break.

Five minutes before half-time, Dara O’Connor picked up an injury and while he returned at the start of the second half, he wasn’t able to continue and was forced to retire after 10 minutes.

Tubber had the first score of the second half through Blaine Earley but an Anthony Kilmartin goal for Newmarket a minute later proved a real blow to the North Clare side’s hopes of causing an upset.

In the middle period of this half, Tubber enjoyed their best spell but they failed to translate this onto the scoreboard. They were guilty of some bad wides (they had eight in all in the second half) and the closest they got to the winners was five points. In the final minutes, Newmarket got on top again and finished with points from David Barrett and Colin Ryan to justify their rating as favourites and move into the semi-final.

James McInerney, Alan Barrett, the O’Connors, Eoin Hayes, David Barrett and Colin Ryan were prominent.
John and Patrick O’Connor, Conor and Blaine Earley and Ronan Taaffe did well for Tubber.

Newmarket: Darren Duggan; Eoin O’Brien, James McInerney, Shane Kelliher; Niall O’Connor, Michael McInerney, Alan Barrett; Eoin Hayes, Sean O’Connor; Ronan Goode, David Barrett, Niall Enright; Shane O’Brien Junior, Anthony Kilmartin, Colin Ryan.
Subs: James Liddy for Goode (47 minutes); Noel Frawley for Enright (50 minutes) and Martin O’Hanlon for O’Brien Junior (54 minutes).
Scorers: Colin Ryan (0-7, 5f), Anthony Kilmartin (1-0), David Barrett (0-2), Shane O’Brien jnr (0-2) and Sean O’Connor (0-1).
Frees for: 9; wides: 12.
Bookings: None.
Tubber: Ronan Taaffe; Patrick O’Connor, Eoin Ruane, John O’Connor; Paul Fogarty, Conor Earley, Fergal O’Grady; Mark Earley, Francis McCormack; Justin McMahon, Shane O’Connor, Darragh O’Connor; Blaine Earley, Eamonn Taaffe, Clive Earley.
Subs: Jack Neylon for D O’Connor (inj 36 minutes) and Tommy Lee for F McCormack (38 minutes).
Scorers: Blaine Earley (0-5, 3f); Justin McMahon, Patrick O’Connor and Clive Earley (0-1 each).
Frees for: 10; wides: 12.
Bookings: None.
Referee: Ambrose Heagney, Corofin.