The sides of Newmarket and Dromtarriffe could not be separated after over 75 minutes of hurling on Sunday evening, in the opening round of the E. Tarrant and Sons Duhallow Junior A championship.

Playing in a group along with Castlemagner and Kanturk where two teams advance to the semi finals, both outfits would have hoped to secure a valuable opening win.

A tightly contested first ten minutes saw the sides level at two points a piece with Donal Hannon on target for Newmarket from placed ball. Another dead ball opportunity moments later saw Hannon smash a penalty to the Dromtarriffe net. Dromtarriffe responded well to the goal, converting the next two scores. The league holders struck again on 13 minutes when corner forward Darren O’Keeffe coolly batted a cross field ball to the opposition net, pushing his side 2-02 to 0-04 ahead. Like the first goal, Dromtarriffe reacted positively, adding a hat-trick of points, to trail by only one, with Barry O’Connor contributing to Newmarket’ total in the same period. The sides were level soon after and Dromtarriffe took control scoring 1-01, as the half entered the final five minutes. Having been wasteful of opportunities for portions of the first half, Newmarket found some finishing touches in the closing stages, adding four points to Dromtarriffe’s two, through Donal Hannon, Rory Lynn, Hugh O’Connor and Barry O’Connor, to trail 2-07 to 1-12 at the break.

Newmarket started the second half in fine fashion, with quick fire points from Cathal Browne and Donal Hannon (2) to regain the lead. They went further ahead on 37 minutes, when Barry O’Connor reacted quickest to an earlier chance to bag Newmarket’s third goal and a 3-10 to 1-13 advantage. The sides traded the next four points with Browne and Lynn on target for Newmarket. Title holders Dromtarriffe continued to battle, registering a trio of unanswered points to level the contest as it entered the last ten minutes. Playing a colossal game at centre forward, Cathal Browne regained the lead for Newmarket, with Hannon and Lynn giving Newmarket a three point cushion, entering the last five minutes. Another converted Donal Hannon free on 59 minutes cancelled out an earlier Dromtarriffe effort, to keep a goal between the sides. Dromtarriffe continued to battle and reduced the arrears to one, with points on 60 and 65 minutes. As the added time entered it’s tenth minute, Dromtarriffe fashioned a final scoring chance to level the match and ensure the points were shared at the Kilbrin venue on a scoreline of 3-16 to 1-22. Newmarket’s focus now switches to Sunday morning and a trip to Meelin, to take on Kanturk in round two of the competition.

The Newmarket team and scorers…

Donal Hannon (1-07, 6f, 1xPen), Barry O’Connor (1-02), Cathal Browne (0-03), Rory Lynn (0-03), Darren 0’Keeffe (1-00), Hugh O’Connor (0-01).

Shane McAuliffe
Paudie Allen		Josh O'Keeffe		Alan Ryan
Aidan Browne		Mikey Cottrell		Mikey Browne
	Hugh O'Connor		John Ryan
Ryan O'Keeffe		Cathal Browne		Barry O'Connor
Donal Hannon		Rory Lynn		Darren O'Keeffe
Subs: Paddy Browne for Josh O'Keeffe (HT)