SAFC: Newcestown see off Newmarket to reach the decider
Newcestown's David Buckley is tackled by Newmarket's Mikey Browne during the Bon Secours Hospital Cork SAFC semi-final. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
NEWCESTOWN’S aim of an immediate return to the top flight remains on track following a narrow victory over Newmarket in the Bon Secours Hospital SAFC semi-final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday afternoon.
The Carbery outfit were downhearted following demotion in 2022 but are now a game away from returning to Premier Senior. Newcestown will face Dohenys in an all West Cork final and are also in the SAHC decider, so the double is still on for the club.
In what was an open game of football, both sides traded frees inside the first five minutes, Conor O’Keeffe slotting over from close range for Newmarket before David Buckley converted a relatively easy free for his side.
After a period of both teams finding each other out, Newmarket kicked two quick points from a Conor O’Keeffe free and a beauty from Hugh O’Connor, 0-3 to 0-1 after 11 minutes.
The team in red and yellow landed their first score in 11 minutes when the impressive Buckley bisected the posts, 0-3 to 0-2 after 16 minutes. Newcestown levelled up proceedings after 19 minutes when Niall Kelly raised a white flag following a quickly taken free by Buckley to an unmarked Kelly.
Newcestown gave away some silly frees in the opening 30 minutes and they were once again punished by the accurate Conor O’Keeffe as he converted another close-range free. One of the scores of the game arrived after 23 minutes when Darren O’Keeffe split the posts from an acute angle as it curled in beautifully at the last second.
Newcestown went down the other end to score a point through Tadhg Twomey, who was making his 150th appearance for his beloved club between both codes, 0-5 to 0-4 after 24 minutes. The sides exchanged points as the game really picked up now before TJ Brosnan pushed the Duhallow club two points clear courtesy of a fine effort.
There were no further scores in the closing stages of the half as Newmarket led 0-7 to 0-5 at the interval.
The second half was a slow burner which was a surprise given how good the final stages of the first half were. The first score of the new half arrived six minutes in which came from Newmarket through a Barry O’Connor effort, 0-8 to 0-5. Newcestown were hanging in there and a Twomey point reduced the deficit down to two points.
Despite Newcestown’s hurling exploits in the past few weeks, they showed no signs of tiredness in this one and a monster Buckley point left just a point in it after the third quarter, 0-8 to 0-7. There was nothing between two evenly matched teams as the sides swapped points. Tim Buckley’s side drew parity after 49 minutes when sub Seamus O’Sullivan raised a white flag following a driving run.
Newcestown had their noses in front with six minutes remaining when who else but Buckley kicked a cracking point, a massive long-range free, 0-10 to 0-9. Another score of the highest quality. A great team move resulted in Newcestown pushing two clear when Twomey split the posts. Newmarket got a much-needed score as Ryan O’Keeffe raised a white flag, their first score in 20 minutes.
Newcestown managed the remaining minutes effectively. Newmarket were reduced to 14 players in the dying embers when Conor O’Keeffe received a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident. O’Sullivan got the insurance score for Newcestown as they progress to the decider, hoping to bounce straight back up to the top table. While Newmarket will be naturally disappointed, they have made great progress in the last 12 months considering they had to beat Bandon in the relegation play-off last season to stay afloat.
D Buckley 0-5 (0-2 f), T Twomey 0-3, S O’Sullivan 0-2, L Meade, N Kelly 0-1 each.
C O’Keeffe 0-3 (0-2 f), D O’Keeffe, R O’Keeffe 0-2 each, TJ Brosnan, B O’Connor, H O’Connor 0-1 each.
C White; N Murray, C Twomey, T Horgan; J Kelleher, M McSweeney, L Meade (c); C Goggin, G O’Donovan; C Dinneen, T Twomey, R O’Sullivan; N Kelly, J Kenneally, D Buckley.
S O’Sullivan for C Dinneen, C Keane for J Kenneally (both h-t), J Meade for N Kelly (51), R Sweeney for R O’Sullivan (57).
J O’Keeffe; M Browne, A Ryan, P Allen; A Browne, TJ Brosnan (c), P Browne; M Cottrell, C Browne; D O’Keeffe, D Hannon, H O’Connor; C O’Keeffe, R O’Keeffe, B O’Connor.
K O’Sullivan for D O’Keeffe (36), B Daly for TJ Brosnan (57), T Murphy for C Browne (58, injured), G Forde for P Browne (61), D Culloty for B O’Connor (63).
Robert Whelan (Gleann na Laoi).
App?
