Newmarket bowed out of the EPS Bison Duhallow Junior Hurling Championship on suffering a crushing defeat to near neighbours Meelin by 1-27 to 1-7 at Meelin on Friday evening last. The incessant rain that fell before the game meant the game was switched from Newmarket to Meelin and the game was played on a remarkable playing surface that defied all that the elements could muster.

The home side were razor sharp from the outset getting on the scoreboard within the opening minute. Newmarket did provide an equalizer when Brian Daly pointed a free in the fifth minute but Meelin soon got into their stride and four unanswered points followed. Brian Daly scored Newmarket’s second point in the fifteenth minute but Newmarket failed to gain any impetus whatsoever as a rampant Meelin hit over a string of impressive scores. As the half concluded a shell shocked Newmarket trailed by 0-11 to 0-2

Any hopes Newmarket harboured of any sort of a comeback were quashed instantly upon the restart as two more sublime points from distance followed for Meelin. Brian Daly had his third point of the game but the Meelin machine struck back with three points in as many minutes. A brief highlight for Newmarket came nine minutes into the half when Donnacha O’Dea placed a neat pass across goal towards Shane Murphy and he gathered before flashing a shot to the back of the Meelin net to leave the scoreline at 0-16 to 1-3.

The sides then exchanged points with Kevin O’Sullivan registering Newmarket’s first from play. Newmarket simply had no answer to their opponents and once more an array of  memorable points followed for Meelin as the lead was increased by a further five points. Newmarket had points before the finish through Brian Daly twice and Colin O’Sullivan but the devastating home side never relented and made the breakthrough for their goal six minutes from time before concluding the most emphatic and comprehensive of winners.

The Newmarket team was…

John Ryan
Donnacha Fitzpatrick		John McSweeney		John Scanlon
Nicky Flanagan		Pa O’Brien		Anthony Crowley
	Conor Cronin		Tony O’Keeffe
Barry O’Leary		Brian Daly (0-5)		Kevin O’Sullivan (0-1)
John Lane		Colin O’Sullivan (0-1)		Donnacha O’Dea
SUBS: Shane Murphy (1-0), Robert Stack, Bryan O’Connell