Late Ballymartle burst wins it

NEWCESTOWN’S title aspirations ground to a shuddering halt in dramatic circumstances at Ballinspittle on Saturday when a late flurry of Ballymartle points put them out of the Cork Premier IHC.

It would be impossible not to feel for the West Cork men as they were the better side all through; they played with far greater urgency and deservedly led for 59 minutes only to have victory ripped from their grasp in stoppage time.

Having been dumped out by the same opposition in the past two seasons, this represented a golden opportunity for Newcestown to not only banish the demons of those consecutive near misses but present them with a mouthwatering semi-final against Courcey Rovers.