Newtown GAA V Newcastle GAA 

Ahead of our senior men's next challenge game on Friday night, here are some words on the Newtownmountkennedy v Newcastle last week from our pitch-side correspondent, Tom Fanthom.

Newtown 0-13: Newcastle 0-6

The phrase “baptism of fire” can often be overused, but it would be a fairly accurate description of the first half of this local derby division 3 match for the new management team. 

Newtown were always going to be firm favourites for this match as it was their FIRST team who, not so long ago, were strong contenders for the senior championship. Add to that the fact that Newcastle were missing seven starting players, there were ample reasons for cautious pessimism on the road towards Newtown on Saturday evening.

Because it was a chilly Saturday evening, Newcastle were also without many of its most regular supporters. I won't name them here but they should consider themselves to be on a yellow card.

Straight from the throw in Newtown went on the attack and clocked up two points in the first three minutes. The Newcastle defence was under intense pressure but Alan Daly and Shane Cloak showed strong resilience to limit the damage as much as they could. However some handling errors and misplaced passes by Newcastle led to some unnecessary scores conceded. Despite creating some good scoring opportunities, Newcastle only managed two scores in the first half, both coming from the reliable boot of Leon Reynolds. We went in at halftime 0-9 to 0-2 down. Things were not looking good.

The second half started much the same as the first half with Newtown getting a point in the opening minute. But then Newcastle seemed to start coming to life. "Donegal Sean" kicked two great points and was unlucky to miss-hit a third following some great build up play by Newcastle. The Newtown keeper pulled off a terrific save to deny Newcastle a goal, which would have put us right back in it. The tempo of the game lifted and it became a more typical local derby with tackles flying in and tempers becoming a little frayed. At one point the unfortunate referee in the middle roared "Don't be taking your frustrations out on me". He issued a black card to a Newtown player for a cynical rugby style tackle on a Newcastle attacker running in on goal. 

Sean McLeavy found his valuable shooting boots late on and kicked two great points (at least one of which looked like it deserved two points). Although it was late in the game, Newcastle kept pressing but then got caught with a counter attack, ultimately resulting in a very good two pointer from Newtown just as the game reached its conclusion.

We welcome new players Philip and Mark who both did a decent job and we welcome back Dylan who showed great spirit.

In my opinion, Newcastle's man of the match was Leon Reynolds who displayed great energy from start to finish.

Just like last year, we are off to a difficult start but John Wynne and his selectors can take a lot of positives from this difficult match. 

Just like this time last year against Dunlavin, we have gone from a large panel of players to struggling to get a full team out. Maybe some lads just don't like playing in the cold, but watch them bouncing back when the weather gets warmer. Apparently poor Ethan has got a sore finger. I can almost hear the late John Healy bellowing "Sore finger? Sure haven't you got nine others. Stick on a pair of boots there lad". Ah no doubt Ethan will be back very soon, when they sew the finger back on.

Former manager Colly was there in among the supporters. I was standing to his left, as a result of which I'm currently suffering from mild tinnitus in my right ear. He can't help himself, it's like a reflex.

We wish Ross and Doyler all the best in their recovery from their respective surgeries.