Newtown lay down marker in impressive win over fancied Douglas
THE ART OF FIELDING: Newtownshandrum's Jamie Coughlan wins possession despite the attention of Douglas' Mark Howell and Eoin Cadogan.
Sheer delight for Newtownshandrum in Mourneabbey yesterday where a six-points victory over fancied Douglas was enough to book their place in the Cork Premier SHC quarter finals and a clash with Glen Rovers.
And the news was also good for Douglas who also booked their passage and a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with St Finbarr’s thanks to earlier victories over Midleton and Kanturk.
No question this was a super Newtownshandrum show. They thundered quickly into the contest with the strong wind at their backs and they were two points up inside a minute courtesy of Coughlan and Jack Twomey and never looked back.
Newtown manager Shane Naughton was a happy camper afterwards: “We’ve been building towards this, it was one of our best performances of the year. We felt the Midleton game was closer than it was and we were out to prove that today. For our supporters in a hurling-mad parish and our 32-man panel who gave it everything in training its a great day for the club.”
With Cathal Naughton and Jerry Lane operating at midfield, Jamie Coughlan full of fight down the right flank and Tim O’Mahony imperious at centre-back, Newtown held all the aces and kudos too to wing back Conor Twomey who held Shane Kingston scoreless from open play.
It was an opening Newtown start that left Douglas for dead. Further points from O’Mahony, Naughton, Cormac O’Brien and Jerry Lane had them 0-7 to 0-2 clear after 12 minutes, an Alan Cadogan point and a Kingston free the lone replies from a lethargic Douglas side.
It was 0-8 to 0-4 after the opening quarter - Conor Kingston and Cadogan finding the target for Douglas - but it was Newtown, full of fire, who were playing all the hurling. Then a lift for Douglas when Kingston fired a free all the way to the net past a bemused Newtown rearguard in the 17th minute and with only a point separating the sides now a Douglas resurgence was on the cards.
But not a bit of it. The goal sparked Newtown to even greater heights as points from Ronan Geary and Coughlan let Douglas know they were in a battle and then a cracking Newtown goal in the 26th minute. Mark Harrington was dispossessed 40 yards from goal, David O’Connor fed Cormac O’ Brien in space and he shot low past Douglas keeper Donal Maher to earn his side a handsome 1-14 to 1-6 interval lead.
Newtown never relented in the second half, were full of energy and played as if their lives depended on it. Another Shane Kingston free and a monster free effort from keeper Maher kept Douglas ticking over but a cracking team point from Thompson in the 35th minute epitomised just how much Newtown were up for this must win contest.
It was all about Jamie Coughlan now for Newtown, the former Cork hurler firing over frees from all angles. He ended up with 12 points in all, eight in the second half and his all round contribution was immense.
By the 45th minute it was 1-21 to 1-11 for Newtown who were showing no signs of letting up as they drove hard for every ball. Alan Cadogan ended up with five points but his radar was well off. Sub Mark O’Connor and Cillian O’Donovan also got nice Douglas points but Newtown were always in control of this contest. Kingston did convert a late penalty for Douglas but it mattered little. Newtown were the masters of this contest.
No excuses from Douglas boss Mark O’Callaghan. “We just never turned up, we were outplayed everywhere, on the pitch, on the scoreboard and we just couldn’t get into the contest. At least we are through, that’s the only good thing. We have a lot to do now, but we will regroup over the next couple of weeks and try to put things right.”
J. Coughlan 0-12 (0-8 frees), C. O’Brien 1-1, C. Naughton 0-3, T. O’Mahony (0-1 free) and M. Thompson 0-2 each, J. Twomey, J. Lane, R. Geary, S. Griffin and C. Griffin 0-1 each.
S. Kingston 2-5 (1-5 frees, 1-0 pen), A. Cadogan 0-5, M. O’ Connor 0-2, C. Kingston, A. O’Connell, D. Maher (free), M. Harrington, C. O’Donovan 0-1 each.
: J. Bowles; K. O’Sullivan, P. O’Sullivan, M. Ryan; J. Herlihy, T. O’Mahony, C. Twomey; C. O’ Brien, J. Twomey; M. Thompson, J. Lane, D. O’Connor; R. Geary, J. Coughlan, C. Naughton.
Subs: Subs R. Geary for Twomey (41m), S. Griffin for Thompson (52m), M. Bowles for O’Connor (60m).
: D. Maher; D. Murphy, S. Donnegan, M. Howell; E. Cadogan, M. Harrington, C. O’Donovan; C. Kingston, S. Moylan; E. Dolan, N. Hartnett, D. Harte; A. O’Connell, S. Kingston, A. Cadogan.
Subs: M. O’ Connor for O’Connell (ht), D. Burke for Harte (41m), B. O’Neill for C. Kingston (41m), J. Harte for Dolan 49m).
: Shane Scanlon (Newcestown).
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