Champions made to battle all the way

SPEAKING last week ahead of the opening round in the Clare Senior Hurling Championship, Newmarket manager Bob Enright said he expected Kilmaley to present the champions with a particularly difficult test.
That’s exactly what he got at Cusack Park on Sunday when the title holders were a little fortunate to get their campaign off to a winning start.

A lively opening saw referee Ger Hoey issue yellow cards to Brian McMahon (Kilmaley) and Sean O’Connor (Newmarket) as early as the second minute with a couple of others fortunate to escape censure.

Kilmaley, whose form in the league has been patchy, made their intentions known from the outset and raced three points clear by the ninth minute. Another four had elapsed before Shane O’Brien opened the scoring for the title holders, who had the margin down to the minimum by the 21st minute.

Two minutes later, Kilmaley were four clear after Pádraig Talty fired past Darren Duggan following a Ken Kennedy delivery. The game was in the final minute of the half when Eoin Hayes delivered a crossfield pass to Colin Ryan who burst past a number of defenders to shoot to the Kilmaley net.

Ryan followed with a point to give his side the lead for the first time but a Ken Kennedy effort from a 70m free on the sideline left the teams deadlocked at 1-6 each at half-time.

Shortly before the break, Kilmaley centre-back Daire Keane was limping noticeably, which led to his switch to the full-forward line. When the teams came out for the second half, Keane had been replaced by Clare minor captain Aidan McGuane.

Early points from Ken Kennedy (free) and Conor Cleary put Kilmaley back in front and by the three-quarter stage, they were 1-9 to 1-7 ahead. They were three ahead with 10 minutes to go and it was clear there was concern in the Newmarket dugout and among their supporters.

Newmarket weren’t happy when referee Ger Hoey called back play and awarded a 20m free for a foul on Colin Ryan after Shane Liddy had finished off the move with a Newmarket goal with eight minutes to play. Ryan tried for a goal from the resultant free but the ball rebounded off the crossbar.

Newmarket had the margin down to one when Sean O’Connor pointed but an excellent score from Aidan McGuane put Kilmaley two clear with just five minutes to play.

Newmarket moved Colin Ryan to corner-forward and this proved to be a vital switch. Ryan, who had missed a number of frees in the second half, hit three points in as many minutes to put the champions one clear with a minute remaining. Shane O’Brien extended their lead to two as the game went into injury time.

Kilmaley battled to the end but could only manage a Ken Kennedy point from a free in the second minute of injury time leaving Newmarket the winners by the minimum margin.

James McInerney, Shane O’Brien, Colin Ryan, Eoin O’Brien and Enda Barrett impressed for the winners, while Alan Markham, Martin O’Connor, Noel Casey, Kenneth Kennedy and Conor Cleary did best for Kilmaley.

Newmarket: Darren Duggan; Eoin O’Brien, James McInerney, Shane Kelleher; Niall O’Connor, Enda Barrett, Alan Barrett; Eoin Hayes, Sean O’Connor; David Barrett, Shane O’Brien Senior, Niall Enright; Shane Liddy, Ronan Goode, Colin Ryan.
Subs: Mike McInerney for Enright (35 minutes); Martin O’Hanlon for Goode (46 minutes) and James Liddy for S Liddy (56 minutes).
Scorers: Colin Ryan (1-8, 5f), Shane O’Brien, David Barrett (0-2 each) and Sean O’Connor (0-1).
Frees for: 17; wides: 15.
Bookings: Sean O’Connor (2 minutes) and James McInerney (47 minutes).
Kilmaley: Kieran Dillon; Martin O’Connor, Alan Markham, Sean Talty; Noel Casey, Daire Keane, Eoin Enright; Kenneth Kennedy, Colin McGuane; Michael O’Neill, Diarmuid McMahon, Conor Cleary; Conor Neylon, Brian McMahon, Pádraig Talty.
Subs: Aidan McGuane for Keane (half-time), Cian Moloney for P Talty (42 minutes), Daire Keane for B McMahon (56 minutes) and Michael O’Malley for Neylon (58 minutes).
Scorers: Kenneth Kennedy (0-9f); Pádraig Talty (1-0), Brian McMahon, Conor Cleary and Aidan McGuane (0-1 each).
Frees for: 15; wides: 11; 65s:1.
Bookings: Brian McMahon (2 minutes), Noel Casey (42 minutes).
Referee: Ger Hoey, Killanena.