The splendid weather conditions and awesome Newmarket support ensured the players took to the field in ideal circumstances. The magnificent John Lane settled early nerves and stamped his authority and class on proceedings by skilfully blitzing his opponents to punch a point in the fourth minute. A well fancied Clyda Rovers side showed their immense calibre by responding with three points in the following five minutes.

Bart Daly struck an unforgettable placed ball from over fifty yards for Newmarket’s second point in the eleventh minute. Newmarket were rewarded for their trademark teamwork and slick passing game in the fourteenth minute as the ever industrious David O’Flynn was impeded as he closed in on goal and a penalty was awarded. Brian O’Riordan strode up from his corner back position and as he has done so regularly and consistently in his career to date dispatched a perfect kick to the corner of the net to the raptures of the black and red brigade.

Clyda playing with the aid of a significant breeze recovered and in the twentieth minute a probing ball on the edge of the square was flicked to the net past an otherwise miserly Newmarket rearguard. Clyda established a two point advantage but Newmarket remained composed led from the back by club stalwarts Denys O’Brien, Barry O’Leary and Mark Reidy. Newmarket received the perfect tonic prior to the interval in the twenty seventh minute of the contest as Bart Daly delivered a dangerous ball into the goalmouth and the excellent Kevin O’Sullivan was on hand to pick up the break and crash the ball home to the roof of the net. This ensured Newmarket went into the break leading by 2-2 to 1-4.

Despite now playing with the advantage of the wind, it was Clyda Rovers who resumed the sharper side and two points within four minutes swung the scoreboard in their favour. The championships top scorer Nicky Flanagan ensured parity seven minutes into the half as a gripping skilful encounter progressed. Clyda Rovers edged ahead again eleven minutes into the half before another club legend Tony O’Keeffe rewarded an efficient Newmarket forward unit on pointing an equalizing point with twelve minutes remaining. Newmarket seized the initiative at this stage of a long rewarding campaign as their remarkable fitness and teamwork bore fruition in their finest hour. Nicky Flanagan edged Newmarket in front as the game entered the final ten minutes.

Seven minutes from time the dream was becoming reality when John Lane once again provided the spark and closing in on goal from a difficult angle he expertly placed a pass into the danger zone and the predatory Tony O’Keeffe was on hand to provide the finishing touch and the net bulged for a third time to the euphoria of the majority of patrons at the famous sporting venue. True to form Clyda Rovers dispelled the comfort of a four point margin on halving the deficit within a couple of minutes to ensure a compelling conclusion. Newmarket’s exemplary discipline and composure engineered a critical free and T.J. Bodie perfectly bisected the posts with an inspirationally struck left footed kick from underneath the covered stand.

As so often throughout the campaign the Newmarket rearguard answered the ominous onslaught and as the gap was reduced to two points, Newmarket support endured a painstaking wait for the final whistle. The resultant kick out proved to be final act of a truly remarkable fairytale as the field became engulfed in a sea of black and red in acknowledgement of their heroes who had just added the proudest chapter in the history of Newmarket GAA Club.

The most worthy of team captains, Barry O’Leary, an inspirational clubman, five years on from suffering an horrific career threatening injury overcome solely for his incredible affection for Newmarket GAA Club rightfully took his place on the podium of Páirc Uí Chaoimh and graciously accepted the cup amidst unforgettable scenes.

The team were greeted to incredible support led by the ever obliging and appreciated Newmarket Pipe Band amongst historic images at the West End. Club Chairman Victor Lane, Fr. Herlihy, Richard Murphy (Chairman, Duhallow Board), Tony McAuliffe (Duhallow Board), Danny Culloty and Barry O’Leary reflected on the remarkable success story before John Cronin capped the proceedings with a perfect rendition  of our famous anthem Up Up Newmarket!!!. Congratulations to one and all.

The Newmarket team and scorers…

Tony O’Keeffe (1-1), Kevin O’Sullivan (1-0), Brian O’Riordan (1-0), Nicky Flanagan (0-2), Bart Daly (0-1), T.J. Bodie (0-1), John Lane (0-1)

Niall O’Connor
T. J. Brosnan		Denys O'Brien		Brian O’Riordan
Barry O'Leary		Mark Reidy		John Ryan
	Bart Daly		Colin O'Sullivan
David O’Flynn		Kevin O'Sullivan		Tony O'Keeffe
T.J. Bodie		Nicky Flanagan		John Lane
Subs: Kevin O’Connor, Timothy Murphy, David Quinlan, Michael O’Leary, Sean Doody, Gerard Casey, Mark Murphy, Eddie Allen, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Gavin Forde, Luke McCarthy, Pa O’Brien

Clyda Rovers pointed in the second minute after the restart before a ten minute scoreless spell followed. The deadlock was eventually broken when some excellent play from Newmarket’s influential midfielder Colin O’Sullivan set a fine move in motion which ended with T.J. Bodie slotting over the bar for a Newmarket point. Midway through the half Clyda regained their four point advantage but at this stage Newmarket began to instigate a commendable comeback.

T.J. Bodie added to his impressive tally with his fifth point of the game before Kevin O’Sullivan did well to punch a point from a difficult angle. As the game entered the final six minutes T.J. Bodie added two more points from frees to tie the sides for the third time of the hour and the first time in fifty minutes. A confident and free flowing Newmarket outfit hit the front for the first time with little over two minutes to play as John Lane was again on target. Newmarket tried to close out a victory but an indiscretion late in injury time was duly punished and both sides have to settle for a well earned draw.

The Newmarket team and scorers…

T.J. Bodie (0-7), John Lane (0-3), Nicky Flanagan (0-2), Tony O’Keeffe (0-1), Kevin O’Sullivan (0-1).

David Quinlan
Sean Doody		Denys O'Brien		Brian O’Riordan
Barry O'Leary		Timothy Murphy		John Ryan
	Colin O'Sullivan		Gerard Casey
Tony O'Keeffe		Kevin O'Sullivan		David O’Flynn
John Lane		Nicky Flanagan		T.J. Bodie
Subs: Bart Daly, Mark Reidy, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Kevin O’Connor, Michael O’Leary

After an initial scrappy opening to the game, John Ryan illuminated proceeding on converting a superb free from a narrow angle in the third minute. Clyda Rovers tied the scores for the first time with a fifth minute point from a free and their next two points came in similar fashion by the tenth minute. In the eleventh minute, Newmarket corner back Kevin O’Connor burst out from defence and set off on a rampaging run through the field where he exchanged passes with David O’Flynn who ultimately kicked a fine point from distance. Clyda added the next score but Newmarket, whose performance was riddled with unforced errors throughout, had their best period of the game.

Newmarket struggled to find a way through the Clyda rearguard but a John Ryan free brought about a change in fortune. As the game entered the final quarter, a quickly taken free from the astute Denys O’Brien picked out John Lane in clear space and as he closed in on goal he selflessly offloaded the ball to Mark Reidy who kept his composure to slot a neat finish to the back of the net, for the games only goal. This brought Newmarket to within a point of their opponents and the sides exchanged the next two points with John Ryan kicking a memorable score for Newmarket. With the game nicely poised, Newmarket self destructed and once more presented Clyda with points through their own unforced errors and they availed by scoring three points to put a clear four points difference between the sides.

Newmarket battled to the end and John Lane reduced the arrears on pointing a free. They came very close to salvaging a draw late on but Clyda held firm to advance to round four.

The Newmarket team and scorers…

John Ryan (0-4), Mark Reidy (1-0), Bart Daly (0-2), David O’Flynn (0-1), John Lane (0-1).

Niall O’Connor
Kevin O'Connor		Mark Murphy		Brian O’Riordan
Barry O'Leary		Timothy Murphy		Sean Doody
	Denys O'Brien		Bart Daly
David O’Flynn		Maurice Feehan		Mark Reidy
John Ryan		Tony O'Keeffe		John Lane
Subs: Kevin O’Sullivan, T.J. Bodie, Seanie Francis O’Sullivan, Colin O’Sullivan, Anthony Crowley.

Clyda Rovers defeated Newmarket on Monday evening in an entertaining intermediate football league game played at Mourne Abbey where the game ended 1-12 to 0-9 in favour of the home side.

Bart Daly kicked a fine point in the opening minute for Newmarket but the home side responded by scoring three successive points by the end of the first quarter. Clyda added a further point before Newmarket enjoyed a productive period and were rewarded with points from T.J. Bodie, Nicky Flanagan and Shane Anthony Murphy which tied the sides late in the half. Clyda had the final score of the half to turn over in front by 0-5 to 0-4.

Clyda were more clinical upon the restart and added three points in seven minutes. John Ryan converted a free for Newmarket before Clyda regained a four point lead. Newmarket were resolute and produced some fine passages of football throughout despite a two month layoff. T.J. Bodie pointed to leave the score 0-9 to 0-6 at the end of the third quarter. Clyda had the next two points but Tony O’Keeffe and T.J. Bodie responded with points for Newmarket. As the game entered the final minutes a superb Newmarket defensive rearguard were eventually breached as Clyda struck for the games only goal. Maurice Feehan scored the final point of the contest as Clyda emerged from a fine contest.

The Newmarket team was…

Niall O’Connor
Pa O’Brien		Barry O’Leary		Brian O’Riordan
Michael Kenneally		Bart Daly (0-1)		John Ryan (0-1)
	Timothy Murphy		Shane Anthony Murphy (0-1)
David O’Flynn		T.J. Bodie (0-3)		Maurice Feehan (0-1)
John Lane		Tony O’Keeffe (0-1)		Nicky Flanagan (0-1)
SUB: David Quinlan

Despite the inclement weather conditions the game was played on a superb pitch. The home side began strongly and took an early two point lead after five minutes. Newmarket missed a number of scoring opportunities before an impressive passage of play ended with midfielder Timothy Murphy surging forward to kick a seventh minute point. The home side edged further in front with a third point in the opening quarter. Playing with the aid of the breeze Clyda made their advantage pay by scoring a further three points in the final ten minutes of the half to turnover in front by 0-6 to 0-1.

Clyda resumed with a point within two minutes of the restart before Bart Daly slotted over a free for Newmarket. Clyda maintained their advantage with the next score but an improving Newmarket side replied through Timothy Murphy.

At the end of the third quarter the home side pointed to lead by 0-9 to 0-3 and seemingly take control of the contest. Newmarket despite industrious effort, found it difficult to convert chances throughout, until the final quarter. Substitute T.J. Bodie kicked a superb score with Nicky Flanagan also on target from a free. Newmarket finished very strongly in every sector, with the influential Nicky Flanagan on the mark again to leave three points between the sides with just over five minutes remaining. Bart Daly pointed next and then John Ryan kicked a super score to leave just a single point between the sides, with the game entering the final couple of minutes. Newmarket were poised to salvage a result but the home side sealed the issue with the final point of the game and win an interesting contest.

The Newmarket team was…

Niall O’Connor
Pa O’Brien		John McSweeney		Mark Murphy
Mark Reidy		Barry O’Leary		Sean Doody
	Kevin O’Sullivan		Timothy Murphy (0-2)
Bart Daly (0-2)		David O’Flynn		Maurice Feehan
John Lane		Tony O’Keeffe		John Ryan (0-1)
SUBS: Nicky Flanagan (0-2),Brian O’Riordan, T.J. Bodie (0-1), Seanie Francis O’Connor