Newmarket edge past Kiskeam

NEWMARKET came out tops in this local derby clash with Kiskeam at Kanturk yesterday where they defeated their great rivals in the opening round of the Evening Echo Cork Co Premier IFC.

This was the first ever county championship clash between these neighbouring clubs, but it failed to rise above mediocrity on a bitter cold afternoon and in front of a very poor attendance.

The winners deserved their victory but they made hard work of it. After storming into a 1-9 to 0-8 lead 18 minutes into the second-half playing into the strong wind, they were forced to live on their nerves after Kiskeam cut the deficit to the minimum with a superb John Angland goal.

Newmarket should never have found themselves in such a vulnerable position. Kiskeam had been reduced to 14 players following the sending off of Niall Cronin for a straight red card offence at a time when they led by four points and then played the last nine minutes against 13 players after the losers had A J O’Connor sent off for two yellow cards.

Kiskeam won the toss and elected to play into the strong wind but Newmarket took full advantage. With Denis O’Brien giving them a grip on midfield, they raced into a 1-1 to 0-1 lead after four minutes thanks to O’Brien’s excellent goal created by John Lane.

Gradually Kiskeam began to come more and more into the game and stretched the Newmarket defence at every opportunity. Donal Linehan and Niall Cronin led their recovery with a succession of points and the deficit was down to two points by the 20th minute.

Kiskeam fluffed a great chance of taking the lead two minutes later when they were awarded a rather dubious penalty, but justice was done when Newmarket keeper Niall O’Connor superbly saved Niall Cronin’s effort and they were full value for their 1-7 to 0-5 half-time lead.

Newmarket continued to hold sway well into the second half but the game eventually sprung to life following Cronin’s dismissal. It had the effect of rallying Kiskeam and they were back in the game with John Angland’s splendid goal.

However, the Newmarket defence held firm thanks to the excellence of centre back Barry O’Leary and Conor Cronin, and with Denis O’Brien, who has won a couple of All-Ireland junior medals with the county team, superb at midfield and Bart Daly, John Ryan, Kevin O’Sullivan and John Lane giving the Kiskeam defence a torrid time, they finished well in control. Kiskeam now await the losers of the Ballingeary/Youghal game in round two.

Scorers for Newmarket: D. O’Brien 1-2; J. Lane, J. Ryan (0-2 frees) 0-3 each; D. O’Flynn, B. Daly (0-1 free) 0-2 each; T. O’Keeffe 0-1.

Kiskeam: J. Angland 1-0; N. Cronin 0-3 (frees); D. O’Leary (frees), D. Linehan, B. Dennehy 0-2 each; J. Ryan 0-1 (free).

NEWMARKET: N. O’Connor; P. O’Brien, J. McSweeney, M. Murphy; S. Doody, B. O’Leary, M. Reidy; D. O’Brien, T. Murphy; D. Flynn, B. Daly, K. O’Sullivan; J. Ryan, T. O’Keeffe, J. Lane.

Subs: C. Cronin for Doody; M. Feehan for Sweeney.

KISKEAM: S. Sullivan; AJ O’Connor, P. O’Leary, D. Breen; D. Fitzgerald, J. Dennehy, S. Linehan; E. O’Mahony, D. Murphy; D. Linehan, J. Angland, M. Herlihy; D. O’Leary, N. Cronin, B. Dennehy.

Subs: J. O’Connor for Breen; D. Herlihy for Fitzgerald.

Referee: P. Downey (Inniscarra).