Newmarket Celtic A 6
Corofin Harps c1

IN the lead-up to Saturday’s Clare Junior Cup final, defending champions Newmarket Celtic A turned in a number of powerful second-half performances.

 

Before a big crowd at the County Grounds in Doora, they again turned on the heat in the second half to score a comfortable win over Corofin Harps.

Celtic were deservingly crowned champions for the second year in-a-row and for the 12th time in all but the final scoreline is a little flattering.

In the space of a minute midway through the second half, Corofin were reduced to nine men and from here on, the only question to be answered was what the size of the winning margin would be.
It was a different story in the firsthalf when Corofin, after getting through a shakey opening period, had the better of matters and led as the half-time whistle approached.

It was a lead few would have predicted having watched the opening exchanges when Newmarket could have scored on a few occasions. They should have taken the lead after eight minutes when they were awarded a penalty. Referee Terry Kennedy adjudged that Daithí O’Connell was fouled as he tried to get to an Alan Brigdale cross. Michael Crosby’s penalty effort rebounded off the upright.
In the 10th minute, a Daithí O’Connell effort rebounded off the post into the arms of Corofin goalie Kieran Carkill. In the 11th minute, Luke O’Loughlin cleared off the line with Carkill beaten.

Corofin’s first chance came after 18 minutes when Newmarket goalie Patrick McCoy went full stretch to his left to turn a Michael Daly effort away. However, had the ball found the net, it would not have counted as linesman Michael Rock had flagged for offside. In the 25th minute, David O’Grady, Newmarket’s captain on the evening in the absence of the injured Mark Donlon, collided with Corofin’s Stephen Keane as both chased possession. Play was held up for five minutes, while both received attention. They both resumed but shortly before half-time, O’Grady was forced to retire as a result of the injury and he was replaced by Ciarán McCoy. It appeared to be an accidental collision between two players chasing possession but match official Terry Kennedy saw it differently and awarded a free to Corofin on the edge of the area, from which Damian Ryan found the net to give his team the lead.

The North Clare side came close to doubling their advantage two minutes later but Luke O’Loughlin’s header from a Damian Ryan free, flew over the bar.
As the half drew to a close, Newmarket piled on the pressure but Alan Brigdale had his effort well saved by Carkill in the Corofin goal. The pressure eventually paid off and Darren Cullinan saw his effort enter the net, taking a deflection off the foot of Damian Ryan, in the third minute of injury time.

When the second half got underway, Newmarket took up where they had left off and hit the front within three minutes. Eoin Hayes, who looked to be in an offside position, broke down the right and fired past the advancing Carkill. At the other end, Dean Ryan saw his header go over the top.

As the half wore on, Alan Brigdale and Eoin Hayes caused huge problems for Corofin with some great runs. Thirteen minutes into the half, Brigdale, having got past a number of defenders, was upended in the area and Michael Crosby made no mistake from the penalty spot this time.

Newmarket were clearly growing in confidence and when a Darren Cullinan effort was deflected, Brigdale, who seemed to be in an offside position, was waiting and he cooly fired past Carkill.
Before play resumed, referee Kennedy spoke with linesman, Rock, and then issued a red card to Corofin’s Michael Concannon, apparently for something said. Straight from the kick-off, Newmarket attacked and when Brigdale was bundled over by Stephen Keane, who picked up a second yellow card, ended his involvement in the game. Corofin were down to nine and to make matters worse, Crosby converted from the penalty spot for a second time to make it 5-1 for the holders.

With the title on the way back to Newmarket, the winners’ boss Mike O’Malley availed of the opportunity to give some game time to some of his substitutes and one of these, Diarmuid Nash, had the final score when he tapped the ball to the net in the final minute.

After the game Clare Soccer League chairman Donie Garrihy presented the cup to Newmarket’s Mark Donlon and David O’Grady.
Alan Brigdale was named as the man of the match and received his award from the Clare league, chairman who also made presentations to the match officials.

Newmarket Celtic A: Patrick McCoy; David O’Grady, Darren Cullinan, Eoin O’Brien, Alan Kelly; Alan Brigdale, Michael Devitt, Michael Crosby, Daithi O’Connell; Eoin Hayes, Padraic Hayes.
Subs: Ronan McCormack for O’Grady (inj); Diarmuid Nash for E Hayes; Ally McMillan for P Hayes; Neil Ryan for Crosby; Mark Donlon for O’Connell.
Corofin Harps: Kieran Carkill; Daryl Dane, Brian Halpin, Mickey Concannon, Luke O’Loughlin; Jason Tierney, Fiachra Roche, Dean Ryan, Michael Daly, Stephen Keane, Damian Ryan.
Sub: Eamonn Malone for Halpin.
Referee: Terry Kennedy; linesmen: Martin Monaghan and Michael Rock; fourth official: Frankie Coote.

 

Third Junior Cup medal for former Clare hurler

FORMER Clare hurler Daithí O’Connell won his third Clare Junior Cup medal, playing a key role in Newmarket Celtic’s victory on Saturday.
The Shannon man won with Rineanna Rovers in 2009 before joining Newmarket Celtic with whom he has won back-to-back cup titles.

Overall, he felt Newmarket deserved to win Saturday’s contest. “In the first half, we were 1-0 after the opening quarter. We were creating a lot of chances but not taking them. We missed a penalty. We thought it was one of the days where things might go against us,” he said.
“We were 2-0 down in the semi-final and we came back and won. We stuck together. This is a great team. We started passing the ball around and that’s what we are good at. That’s what got us the goals in the end. When we go ahead we are a very hard team to beat,” the midfielder noted.

“When we got the lead goal, we were not going to be stopped. We should have had a couple in the first half. We missed a few early chances. The goal before half-time gave us a bit of confidence. Overall, I believe we were the better team,” he said.

Team captain Mark Donlon found it difficult to watch from the sideline. A calf muscle injury ruled him out of the final but he did come in for the final five minutes. He accepted the cup along with captain for the day, David O’Grady, who suffered an injury in the first half which forced him to retire before the break.

“We were pushed all the way, especially in the first half. The red cards ruined it as a contest. It was comfortable in the end but they gave us a right battle. If we could start the first half like the second we would be flying it. We tend to put ourselves under pressure. We are delighted to have won,” Donlon said after receiving the cup for the second successive season.

“It can be frustrating watching it from the sideline. You want to be part of it. I prefer playing,” he said, adding,

“It’s a good finish to the year. It’s disappointing we didn’t win the league but the table doesn’t lie, Avenue are deserving champions. This is great, it’s hard to retain any title but we have done it and its great,” observed the powerful centre half.

The Newmarket skipper agreed his club can look to the future with confidence.
“The youths won the cup title last week and it’s very enjoyable to see we have players coming through. Our targets for next year include trying to win back the league title and pushing on in Munster. We let ourselves down in Munster and FAI competitions last year and we want to push on from here.”

 

Halpin praises Corofin’s effort

COROFIN manager Gerry Halpin was, understandably, disappointed with the result on Saturday evening but he was full of praise for his charges.

“Of course, it’s disappointing. The scoreline is a little unfair to us. The lads battled to the end and played some great football,” he said after the final whistle.
“We were well there in the first half but the goal just before half-time brought Newmarket back into the game. We knew that they would come at us after the break and we knew that we needed to hold firm in the third quarter. They found a way through for the second goal and, of course, the two sending-offs didn’t help,” the long-serving Corofin clubman said.

“We were fighting an uphill battle after that but our lads battled to the end and I cannot but praise them. They performed well and kept running to the end. I couldn’t ask anyone to come on given the effort the lads put in,” said Halpin.
Despite the disappointment of this result, it was, according to the Corofin manager, “A very good year for the club. We have won promotion to the premier division. We must regroup now and prepare for the premier for next season. We need to get a few more players to strengthen our squad.”

Halpin agreed the loss of Brendan and John Keane was a huge blow. “They are key players in this team. We have a small pool of players and we need everyone. The loss of one for us is like four or five for the likes of Newmarket,” concluded Halpin.