Newmarket began their junior b league campaign with with a defeat to Knocknagree by 1-13 to 1-10 at a wet and windy Knocknagree on Wednesday Evening.

Newmarket were out of the blocks the quickest as they raced in to a 0-4 to 0-2 lead inside ten minutes with points from centre forward Darren O’ Keeffe and Culloty. And a further 1-2 without reply had Newmarket leading 1-6 to 0-2 with only 18 minutes on the clock with O’ Keeffe adding further points and Nicky Barrett slotting home a fine goal. Shane Congo Murphy was next to add to Newmarkets lead but a brace of points from Knocknagree saw them reduce the deficit. It was O’ Keeffe again with another point from a free before Knocknagree again scored 2 more points from free to leave it 1-8 to 0-7 in favour of Newmarket at half time.

After playing against the wind in the first half, Newmarket struggled to add to their lead with same wayward shooting proving costly. Knocknagree may them pay for this as they had notched up 1-3 within the first ten mins. Newmarket eventually found a way through the Knocknagree rearguard with O’ Keeffe once more providing the score with a fine individual effort. Shane Congo Murphy added his second of the game before Knocknagree hit 3 of their own to leave it 1-13 to 1-10 with only ten minutes remaining. The score would remain the same at the final whistle despite the brave efforts of Newmarkets forwards.

The Newmarket team and scorers…

Darren O’ Keeffe (0-06), Nicky Barrett (1-00), Shane C Murphy (0-02), Daniel Culloty (0-02).

Shane McAuliffe
Alan Forde		John Scanlon		Jamie Hayes
Eddie Allen		Pa O’Brien		Donnacha Fitzpatrick
	Brendan Stack		Jacko Flaherty
Daniel O'Doherty		Darren O'Keeffe		Shane Murphy
Nicky Barrett		Daniel Culloty		Robert Stack
Subs: Daniel Norton