Newport find goal touch to reach O Riain Cup quarter finals
Newport 4-13
Mullinahone 2-15
Newport announced themselves as major contenders for the Seamus O Riain Cup after this impressive win over Mullinahone in Golden on Saturday.
Scoring four first half goals set Newport up for this deserved win, having to withstand a strong comeback from the South side in the second half to book their place in the quarter finals as group winners.
Mullinahone were saddled with a deficit of ten points at the break but fought their way back into the game, greatly aided by two second half rockets of penalties from Eoin Kelly. The second penalty, awarded with six minutes left, narrowed the gap to just two points with everything to play for. Newport held on however to that four point cushion,with both teams scoring three apiece in the closing minutes.
It was a nervous closing few minutes for Newport but a powerful defensive effort in those final moments of the game ensured they held out as they limited Mullinahone to what amounted to half chances for the goal they needed.
Newport deserved the victory set up by their first half goal blitz. The first two goals were down to defensive errors as the Mulcair men pounced on a poor clearance and on a handpass executed in a dangerous area. Aaron O’Neill and then Colin Floyd punished Mullinahone on both occasions and Newport were in the driving seat holding a 2-1 to 0-1 lead as early as the eighth minute.
From that point on Mullinahone were always chasing the game and even though they responded with four successive points they still found themselves with a mountain to climb after they gave up another two goals in the dying moments of the first half. On the stroke of half time the excellent Darragh Carroll delivered a free from midfield which was misjudged by the Mullinahone defence and sailed into the top of the net. Deep in injury time Aaron O’Neill split the Mullinahone defence with a perfectly weighted pass to Pa Ryan who accelerated away from his marker and finished to the net to give Newport the ten point half time lead.
Within three minutes of the second half Mullinahone had that ten point gap reduced to five with a point from Mikey O’Shea, a free from Eoin Kelly before Kelly scored his first penalty.
The legendary marksman made no mistake and his second penalty after 54 minutes was finished even more emphatically.
It left four between the teams but Mullinahone could not make the breakthrough for the goal they needed in the closing minutes as Newport stood firm.
MATCH DIGEST
Player of the Match: Pa Ryan (Newport)
Newport: Paul Hogan (7); Robert Houlihan (6), Odhran Floyd (8), Conor Hickey (6); Cian Flanagan (7), Sean O’Brien (7), Andrew Hickey (7); Peter O’Sullivan (6), Conor Floyd (0-1, 7); Martin Carey (6), Aaron O’Neill (1-0, 7), Darragh Carroll (1-9 (0-7f) 8); Daniel Carew (6), Colin Floyd (1-1, 7), Pa Ryan (1-2, 8).
Sub: Jack Delahunty (6) for Carey (40)
Mullinahone: Alan Walsh (6); Eoin Fennelly (6), Daire O'Brien (6), Colin Shelly (6); Sean Curran (7), Martin Kehoe (0-2, 7), Paul Curran (7); Alan Curran (6), Gary Cronin (6); Kevin Walzer (6), Jack Shelly (0-1, 7), Enda Keane (0-1, 6); Eoin Kelly (2-7, 2-0 pens, 0-6f) 8), Mickey O'Shea (0-1, 7), Michael Dunne (0-3, 8).
Referee: David Ryan (Cashel King Cormacs).