*Éanna Crimmins on the attack for Newmarket-on-Fergus. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
There has been a renaissance in Newmarket-on-Fergus over the past two seasons that has given the Blues a new lease of life at senior level.
Having soared to the heights of that long-awaited 2012 Canon Hamilton crown, their star appeared to wane in recent seasons as brushes with relegation in 2016 and ’18 were compounded by group stage finishes in 2019 and ’20.
However, with an injection of youth from final appearances in Minor B (2019), Under 21A (2021) and B (2019), Newmarket’s experienced core have been rejuvenated once more under manager Tomás Ryan. Indeed, with a competitive record of 16 victories in their last 20 league and championship outings that has included promotion back to Division 1A of the Clare Cup and last year’s championship semi-final appearance, it’s easy to see why the Mossy Ryan and his side are wagering awaiting the latest senior championship race.
“Overall we would have been happy with the progress we made last year. Although we were disappointed not to get to the county final, we have to acknowledge that we did made progress.
“The Clare Cup this year, while it was disrupted with injuries, we didn’t have a huge inter-county contingent so we had a good pick. We were delighted to get out of the division. It wasn’t one of our targets at the start of the year but we were still happy to get promoted”.
Arguably faced with their toughest evaluation first in their nearest and dearest neighbours Sixmilebridge, it won’t get any easier as Whitegate made their championship bow against the Blues only seven days later.
“Ourselves, the ‘Bridge and Feakle are out the first two weekends and it could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on results and injuries of course but until you get into it, you don’t know how it’s going to pan out. It’s a seven day turnaround but we should be able to cope with that.We’re not thinking about Whitegate yet though as we can’t look past Saturday. We have to put everything into that first game against the ‘Bridge.
“To be honest, all teams will look at the group and fancy their chances of getting out of it. So it is going to be very tight and no doubt it will come down to the last weekend.They’re all tough games but we’ve got Sixmilebridge to start with who have been the stand-out team of the last number of years. It will be a tough ask but we just need to look at ourselves and see how we can perform. If we can perform and win, great but once we get a performance out of the lads, we’ll be happy.”
Management: Tomás Ryan (Manager); James Carrig, Brian Clancy, Alan Barrett, Brian Enright, Brian Lawlor (Coach); Derek Morris (S&C)
Captain: John Feehily
Key Player: Enda Barrett
One to Watch: Peter Power
Fresh Blood: Adam Enright, Sol Frost, Seadhna Liddy, Jason O’Neill, Niall Woods
Departures Gate: James ‘Jellies’ Power (abroad)
Titles Won: 23
Most Recent Title: 2012
Last season’s run: Following a perfect Clare Cup run, the Blues carried that form into the championship by reaching a first semi-final since 2017 and coming within a point of eventual champions Ballyea.
