*Newmarket-on-Fergus captain, Liam O’Connor. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
A PROUD PAST is behind Newmarket-on-Fergus and their current crop of senior hurlers are anxious to write their own chapter in the annals.
Newmarket-on-Fergus Fact File
Management: James Carrig (manager), Alan Duggan (coach), Cathal Fleming (selector), Seamus Meehan (selector), Cathal O’Brien (S&C), Brendan Cullinan (kit), Cepta O’Connor (logistics), John Earls (medical)
Captain: Liam O’Connor
Key player: Peter Power
One to watch: Michael Power
Fresh blood: Michael Power, Damian Lyne, Zach Treacy
Departures Gate: None
Treatment table: Seán O’Connor, Paudie McMahon, Stephen Casey, Noel Frawley.
Titles won: 22 (1912, 1916, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1955, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1981, 2012)
Last year’s run: Failed to come out of the group after winning the Clare Cup.
Schedule of games:
Round 1vs Eire Og on Friday July 25th in Clarecastle at 19:00
Round 2 vs Feakle on Friday August 8th in Cusack Park at 19:00
Round 3 vs Wolfe Tones on Sunday August 24th in O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge at 16:00
Championship power ranking: 7
With twenty two Clare senior hurling titles to their credit, pressure to match the players who have been instrumental in those successes is ever present for Newmarket-on-Fergus.
In the 1960s and 70s, the Blues dominated the club scene in Clare winning three-in-a-row championships on three different occasions with some of the great names of Clare hurling part of their success.
It’s thirteen years since they last won the blue riband of Clare hurling, making the breakthrough following seven years of near-misses prior to that.
Having reached the quarter-finals in 2021, 2022 and 2023, there was a strong sense of disappointment when they failed to emerge from the group last season, losing out on scoring difference.
James Carrig is in his second year as team manager and he told The Clare Echo that they are “focused on Éire Óg. The first round is very important and you are under pressure if you lose that game. Hopefully we can get a performance from the team and that will lead to a victory”.
He continued, “our aim is to take it round by round and to improve as we go along. We haven’t spoken about anything other than our first round clash with Éire Óg”.
Noting that the title hadn’t come to the parish since 2012, the manager said “this is a new group and they have been improving and developing as a group all the time”.
The Blues boss believes that “the Clare championship is wide open and any team can beat the others. It will be helter skelter every week from here on and there is a lot of demand on the players and we are very lucky that we have a group of players who give great commitment to the club”.
Experience is provided by former Clare hurlers James McInerney and Colin Ryan while there is talent up front with Éanna Crimmins and Peter Power. Central roles are expected to be filled by captain Liam O’Connor and the Guilfoyle brothers.
Their meeting with Éire Óg on this Friday evening at Clarecastle is seen by patrons as one of the ties of the opening round. It will be their third championship meeting in seven years. Éire Óg ran out 2-13 1-14 winners when they met in the third round in 2019 while the Blues recorded a 0-22 0-19 victory when they met in the 2021 first round. Friday’s tie is expected to be another close affair.
