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GAA Club Newtownshandrum 2-16 Muskerry 2-8 History was made in Kanturk on Sunday 12th July 1999 when this Newtown team became the first in the clubs History to make it to the quarter final stages of the County Senior Hurling Championship, courtesy of a workmanlike if not overly impressive performance against a highly rated Muskerry outfit. It was always going to be difficult for Newtown to reach the heights of their previous round victory against Killbritan, but they showed enough sparkle to suggest their meeting with Imokilly in the next round is far from a foregone conclusion. Newtown started the brighter and by the end of the first quarter were 1-3 to 0-0 ahead, the scores coming form Ben O�Connor (free), Donal Mulcahy, Alan O�Brien and a great goal from Dan O�Riordan, latching on to a speculative shot from Donal Mulcahy to flick to the net. At this stage it looked like this game would be over at half time, but fair play to Muskerry who battled back to leave just a goal between the sides courtesy of some fine play from Kevin Murray. This was to be as close as Muskerry were to get to Newtown, but had it not been for some poor shooting from the Muskerry lads, things might have been a lot closer at the small whistle. As it was Newtown went in at the break 2-8 to 1-5, Muskerrys goals coming from Murray, with the Newtown goal coming from Donal Mulcahy, who was beginning to have a major say in the game. Him apart, Newtown had fine performances in the first half from Philip Noonan (who was keeping Jeff O�Connell very quiet), Ian Kelleher and Paddy Egan in defence while up front all forwards made a significant contribution. With the aid of a fresh breeze, Muskerry needed to make a good start to the second half. Instead it was Newtown who upped their game with scores from Gerry O�Connor and Donal Mulcahy. Muskerry were given a brief glimmer of hope when Jeff O�Connell goaled midway through the second half, but Newtown rallied again, with second half substitute John Paul King delighting the crowd with his mazy dribbles and Jerry O�Connor (having switched positions with brother Ben, which benefited both) causing a constant threat to the Muskerry back line. Newtown will be worried by the fact that they had 13 wides, but at least on this occasion they have something to work on for the next match. There were some excellent performances from Philip Noonan, Pat Mulcahy, Ian Kelleher, Declan Murphy, Jerry O�Connor and John Paul king, but my Man of the Match goes to Donal Mulcahy, who tormented the Muskerry defence throughout. The Final score of 2-16 to 2-8 was a fair reflection of the difference between these two sides.
Scorers:
Newtownshandrum: Paul Morrissey; John Griffin, Philip Noonan, Paddy Egan; Mike Reidy, Pat Mulcahy, Ian Kelleher; Declan Murphy, Jerry O�Connor; Donal Mulcahy, Mike Morrissey, Alan O�Brien; Bertie Troy, Ben O�Connor, Dan Riordan.
Muskerry: R. Byrnes (Blarney); P. Murray (Cloughduv), D. Holland (Inniscarra), M. Kenny (Grenagh); J. Hughes (Blarney), S. O�Donoghue (do.), D. O�Donovan (do.); T. O�Mahony (Cloughduv), P. Kelleher (Aghabullogue); A. Shanahan (Blarney), B. Sheehan (do.), J. Dwyer (Ballincollig); K. Murray (Cloughduv), J. O�Connell (Ballincollig), D. O�Leary (Aghabullogue). Subs. S. O�Keeffe (Ballincollig) for O�Donoghue; J. Olden (Inniscarra) for O�Donovan), R. O�Doherty (Ballincollig) for Kelleher. Newtownshandrum 3-21 Kilbrittan 2-2 Played in near perfect conditions on a good sod in Pairc Ui Rinn on Sunday 27th June 1999, Newtown swept aside the feeble challenge of a Kilbrittan side they previously failed to beat in championship hurling. It was hard to believe, looking at this game, that these sides finished a thrilling game at the same stage of the championship two years ago so close on the scoreboard, and what is harder to believe is the fact that Newtown lost on that occasion because this time around the contest was never in doubt after half back Michael Reidy's speculative shot from 70 yards went straight to the back of the net. Having elected to play against a fresh breeze in the first half, Newtown were first to settle. The above mentioned goal from Michael Reidy, followed by scores from Ben O'Connor, Alan O'Brien, Jerry O'Connor, Donal and Pat Mulcahy saw Newtown go in at the interval with a lead of 2-10 to 0-1. This was in no way flattering to the Newtown lads who were running Kilbrittan raged at this stage and in fairness the contest was over at this stage. Some marvellous play from Donal and Pat Mulcahy, Alan O'Brien, Ben and Jerry O'Connor and to a lesser extend Dan Riordan had Kilbrittan reeling with no way back at this stage The start of the second half was no different with Newtown adding further scores at will and it was not until the last ten minutes that Kilbrittan added to their earlier point, when they scored 2-1. This was a most encouraging from a team that had their critics before the start of this game. It will give them great confidence for their next round match against Muskerry which is fixed for 11th July in Kanturk. Donal and Pat Mulcahy, Alan O'Brien, Ben and Jerry O'Connor and Dan Riordan were most impressive on the day, although it must be said it was the teams performance which was the most pleasing aspect of this encounter. Scorers: Newtownshandrum: Kilbrittan: Referree:W. Horan (Brian Dillons)  Click here to return home [GAA Section] [What is Camogie] [Cool Links] [Sign Guestbook] [Read Guestbook] [Email] Email: [email protected] Copyright � Newtownshandrum Camogie Club 1998-2000 |