Newcestown defy the odds to close in on double bid

The West Cork men kicked seven of the last nine points to book their spot in the Cork SAFC final

Newcestown's David Buckley goes past Newmarket's TJ Brosnan during the Bon Secours Cork SAFC semi final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Picture; Eddie O'Hare

Sat, 07 Oct, 2023 - 16:46

John Coleman

Cork SAFC semi-final: Newcestown 0-12 Newmarket 0-10

The double is on for Newcestown as they continued to defy the odds in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday afternoon. Trailing by three points with twenty minutes to go, the West Cork men kicked seven of the last nine points to book their spot in the final of the Bons Secours Cork SAFC at the expense of Newmarket.

Tadhg Twomey represents all that is good about Newcestown, and the second of his three points made it a two-point game as it proved to be the catalyst for their revival.

David Buckley then exchanged scores with Ryan O’Keeffe and it was all to play for in the final quarter. Incredibly, Newcestown seemed to have a bit more puff in the tank. Luke Meade and Seamus O’Sullivan brought them level before the irrepressible Buckley and Twomey pushed them two clear.

Newmarket hadn’t scored in 21 minutes, and they were grateful when Ryan O’Keeffe bucked that trend to make it a one-point game. They then had a chance to level it, but they elected to go short with a kickable free, and although they did get a shot off, eventually, it went wide, and with it went their chances of success.

O’Sullivan’s second point pushed Newcestown two clear again and they weren’t to be caught in a frantic four minutes of injury time that saw Conor O’Keeffe see red for Newmarket while Jack Meade was black carded for Newcestown.

Both sides probed at each other without much success early on as possession trumped inventiveness. Conor O’Keeffe opened Newmarket’s account with a free, Buckley responded in kind for Newcestown and apart from that, nothing else was happening.

Buckley was showing glimpses of class, but he was unfortunate to see an effort of his come back off the post and from that play Newmarket captain, TJ Brosnan, figured that the best way to cope with a packed defence was to go over it. His raking pass found Ryan O’Keeffe, who was then fouled, allowing his cousin Conor to pop over his second of the day. Hugh O’Connor followed up with the game’s first score from play, and Newmarket led by 0-3 to 0-1 at the end of the opening quarter.

From there, things began to open up. Buckley swung over his first from play before taking a quick free to Niall Kelly who levelled the game at 0-3 apiece. Conor O’Keeffe and Darren O’Keeffe then pushed the Duhallow side two clear, Twomey got one back for the Carbery side before Darren O’Keeffe then elected to pop over his second point when a goal might have been on.

The excellent Buckley then left the minimum between them again, but there was still time for Brosnan to point from distance to leave Newmarket leading by 0-7 to 0-5 at the interval. It was a lead they just about deserved as they seemed to be exerting that bit more pressure on the Newcestown rearguard.

Barry O’Connor extended that lead on the resumption before both sides had cases of what might have been. Carthach Keane had the ball in the Newmarket net after exchanging passes with Micheál McSweeney only for it to be scratched off for overcarrying, Barry O’Connor saw a fisted effort come back off the post that could have gone anywhere.

Then came Twomey’s second point, that sparked a run of form that Newmarket just could not deal with.

Scorers for Newcestown: D Buckley (0-5, 0-3 frees), T Twomey (0-3), S O’Sullivan (0-2), N Kelly and L Meade (0-1 each).

Scorers for Newmarket: C O’Keeffe (0-3, frees), D O’Keeffe and R O’Keeffe (0-2 each), TJ Brosnan, B O’Connor and H O’Connor (0-1 each).

NEWCESTOWN: C White; N Murray, C Twomey, T Horgan; J Kelleher, M McSweeney, L Meade (c); C Goggin, G O’Donovan; C Dinneen, T Twomey, R O’Sullivan; N Kelly, J Kenneally, D Buckley.

Subs: C Keane for Kenneally and S O’Sullivan for Dinneen (both h/t), J Meade for Kelly (52), R Sweeney for O’Sullivan (57).

NEWMARKET: J O’Keeffe; M Browne, A Ryan, P Allen; P Browne, TJ Brosnan, A Browne; M Cottrell, C Browne; D O’Keeffe, D Hannon, H O’Connor; C O’Keeffe, R O’Keeffe, B O’Connor.

Subs: K O’Sullivan for D O’Keeffe (36), B Daly for Brosnan (57) T Murphy for C Browne (inj, 58), G Forde for P Browne (60), D Culloty for B O’Connor (63).

Referee: Robert Whelan (Gleann na Laoi).