*Steven Conway gets away from Shane Lynch. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
FEAKLE had to utilise all their championship winning experience to relievedly eek out their first victory of the new campaign following an enthralling war of attrition with Newmarket-on-Fergus
Feakle 1-19
Newmarket-on-Fergus 1-17
Venue: Zimmer Biomet Páirc Cíosóg, Ennis
The Clare Echo’s coverage of the Clare SHC is with thanks to The Temple Gate Hotel.
Trailing by as much as five points in the opening and a goal entering the final quarter, the holders dug crater deep on both occasions to reel in the Blues.
Substitute Owen McGann’s 46th minute goal would be a major turning point in the narrative of this must-win tie as it not only wiped out all of Newmarket’s hard work but handed clear momentum to a wind-assisted Feakle at the perfect time.
Eoin Tuohy’s well deliberated point by the officials actually inched the East Clare side in front for the very first time in the 48th minute at 1-14 to 1-13 and from there they would never fall behind again as young guns Oisin O’Connor and supersub McGann grabbed a brace of points each to provide a two point cushion.
They weren’t quite out of the woods yet though as with the three minutes of additional time played, a never-say-die Newmarket carved out one final opportunity that saw Jack Enright offload to the onrushing Eoin Hayes to unleash a bullet that just shaved past the right post and wide.
The Newmarket supporters actually thought it had gone in but it did exemplify the wafer-thin margins between success and failure as Feakle remain unbeaten while the Blues are now out of the championship regardless of tomorrow’s result between Éire Óg and Wolfe Tones on their own home ground.
It was an outcome that just didn’t seem likely early on as James Carrig’s side were simply rampant in the opening twenty minutes but much like their opening tie against the Townies, frustratingly missed more than they scored.
With the wind at their backs, they got off to the perfect start when James McInerney’s opening point was accentuated by a goal in only the seventh minute when Mikey McInerney dispossessed Adam Hogan, with the ball falling perfectly for Peter Power to ground new goalkeeper Liam O’Connor [in for the injured Eibhear Quilligan] and fire to the net.
Shane McGrath kept Feakle in touch with frees but with Eoin Hayes and Peter Power in superb form, they created a succession of chances, even if they didn’t take as much as they should.
Indeed, the Blues would eventually tally eleven first half wides which didn’t seem costly when powering five clear but it was only when Feakle finally settled into their stride that the misses were magnified.
That included a glorious goal chance created by Peter Power for John Feehily but his tame effort was easily dealt with by goalkeeper O’Connor. Feehily did redress the balance with a point at 1-7 to 0-5 by the 20th minute but that was as good as it got for the Blues who would fade badly for the remainder of the half.
Feakle, who despite losing Quilligan and vice-captain Martin Daly to injury did welcome back crucial quartet Conn Smyth, Eoin Tuohy, Enda Noonan and Steven Conway for their first starts and finally got a foothold in the contest when Oisin O’Connor and Shane McGrath evenly shared the next four points to slash the arrears to just the minimum by the 26th minute at 1-7 to 0-9.
Newmarket resisted with a long range Colin Guilfoyle free, only to concede the final two points of the half to Packie Daly and the talismanic McGrath to neuter a half-time deadlock at 1-08 to 0-11.
Now with the wind at their backs, Feakle were expected to push on but would be met by a stern backlash from the Blues who not only grabbed four of the first five points of the new half but were also desperately unlucky not to be further ahead only for goalkeeper Liam O’Connor to produce an outstanding full length stop to deny Shane Lynch in the 35th minute.
Éanna Crimmins’ unerring freetaking did open up a three point gap once more, a margin they would comfortably hold by the three-quarters mark.
However, Feakle are county champions for a reason, with their leaders stepping up superbly to unearth a goal at the perfect time. Stemming from an Oisin Donnellan one-two with Shane McGrath from a lineball, the captain’s superbly crossfield delivery was fielded by Steven Conway who attracted Newmarket’s last line before popping a pass inside to substitute Owen McGann to control and finish to the net off the hurley to regain full parity at 1-13 apiece.
Feakle would never look back from that moment, with McGann’s 1-2 contribution an immense boost when needed most. Eoin Tuohy was outstanding throughout while Adam Hogan, Conn Smyth, Ronan O’Connor, Oisin Donnellan and Oisin O’Connor all had big contributions alongside chief marksman Shane McGrath while for a crestfallen Newmarket Eoin Guilfoyle, Eoin Hayes, Éanna Crimmins, Peter Power, Shane Lynch and Jack Enright ensured a much improved performance from the Éire Óg opener.
A return to the quarter-finals is still on track for Feakle who still have to face group favourites Éire Óg in the final round but Newmarket’s fate is sealed as they are now nervously peering over their shoulders ahead of a final round derby with Wolfe Tones.
Scorers for Feakle: Shane McGrath 0-11 (7f); Owen McGann 1-2; Oisin O’Connor 0-4; Packie Daly 0-1, Eoin Tuohy 0-1
Scorers for Newmarket-on-Fergus: Eanna Crimmins 0-8 (5f, 1’65); Peter Power 1-1; Colin Guilfoyle (2f) 0-2, Eoin Guilfoyle 0-2; James McInerney 0-1, Eoin Hayes 0-1, John Feehily 0-1, Mikey Power 0-1
Feakle
16: Liam O’Connor
18: Enda Madden
5: Adam Hopan
3: Evan McMahon
2: Killian Bane
25: Conn Smyth
6: Eoin Tuohy
8: Enda Noonan
9: Ronan O’Connor
10: Oisin Donnellan
4: Oisin Clune
13: Steven Conway
7: Packie Daly
11: Shane McGrath
15: Oisin O’Connor
Subs
20: Owen McGann for Noonan (39)
14: Ray Bane for McMahon (50)
19: Gary Guilfoyle for Daly (60)
21: Eoin McGuinness for Clune (63)
Newmarket-on-Fergus
1: Paudie Guilfoyle
22: Conor McCarthy
2: Jack Enright
3: Colin Guilfoyle
5: Niall O’Connor
6: Liam O’Connor
7: James McInerney
8: Shane Lynch
9: John Feehily
4: Paudie McMahon
11: Eanna Crimmins
15: Eoin Guilfoyle
24: Eoin Hayes
10: Mikey McInerney
21: Peter Power
Subs
19: Mark Delaney for McCarthy (35)
20: Sean Arthur for M. McInerney (40)
30: Stephen Casey for Feehily (47)
29: Sean O’Connor for J. McInerney (50)
28: Mikey Power for McMahon (56)
Referee: Fergal O’Brien (Broadford)
