Newmarket got their junior B hurling league campaign off to a winning start following a fine victory over Freemount by 2-11 to 0-7 on a bright and sunny Wednesday evening in Newmarket.

Newmarket were quickly on the board as John Lane slotted over a free in the first minute. Freemount summoned an equalizer instantly and an additional two points edged the visitors ahead after thirteen minutes.

Newmarket’s second point owed much to the determination of Shane Murphy who did superbly to dispossess an opponent before supplying a fine finish over the crossbar. A Paul Verling free tied the sides at 0-3 apiece after the opening quarter.

The games first goal was created after some fine build up play and linking between Eddie Allen, Paul Verling and John Lane before John Scanlon gathered possession and slammed the ball to the roof of the net from the edge of the square. Two Freemount points reduced the gap to a single point after twenty one minutes of play. Newmarket finished the half strongly led by dominating displays from Jamie Hayes, Robert Stack and Pa O’Brien in defence. Paul Verling pointed a free before Pa O’Brien hit an inspirational point from inside his own half. Pa O’Brien was again instrumental as he burst forward from defence with Daniel O’Doherty on hand to supply a neat finish.

The sides exchanged two points before with break with Paul Verling ensuring that Newmarket held a lead of 1-7 to 0-6 at half time.

Newmarket’s cause was significantly boosted in the fourth minute of the second half when a long range free from John Lane was deftly flicked to the corner of the net by John Scanlon. Newmarket built on the advantage and despite scores proving more difficult to come by, Shane Murphy and John Lane did increase the advantage with the only points of the first twenty minutes after the restart. At the back Newmarket hurled really well with Nicky Barrett leading by example in the goal, while Jamie Hayes and Brendan Stack were very influential figures. Freemount ended a scoring drought with a pointed free but Newmarket ensured victory with closing points from John Lane and a towering score from David Quinlan.

The Newmarket team and scorers…

John Scanlon (2-0), Paul Verling (0-3), John Lane (0-3), Shane Murphy (0-2), Pa O’Brien (0-1), David Quinlan (0-1), Daniel O’Doherty (0-1)

Nicky Barrett
Jamie Hayes		Robert Stack		Liam Birthley
Pa O’Brien		Brendan Stack		Nicky Flanagan
	John Lane		Eddie Allen
David Quinlan		Shane Murphy		Shane A Murphy
Paul Verling		John Scanlon		Daniel O'Doherty
Subs: Eamon Murphy, Eoin O’Connell, Jeremy Murphy