Clare SHC Semi-finals: Newmarket reached their first final since 1981 when they pipped fancied Crusheen 1-9 to 1-8 at Cusack Park, Ennis, yesterday, after a commanding first-half performance.
They raced into a 1-4 to 0-0 lead early on, Colin Ryan netting on 11 minutes after cleverly collecting a good sideline cut by Bernard Gaffney.
Crusheen's opening score did not arrive until the 15th minute when Gerry O'Grady landed a free and they trailed 1-6 to 0-3 at the end of half an hour.
Crusheen put over three scores after the break before Gaffney got Newmarket's first second-half point on 48 minutes.
The big forward added two more to make it 1-9 to 0-6 with five minutes remaining only for O'Grady to rattle the Newmarket net with a superbly struck free from about 30 metres.
In a frantic finish Crusheen produced points from Alan Brigdale and Brian O'Donnell but Newmarket held out.
In the first semi-final at the same venue, champions Clarecastle's dreams of a two-in-a-row were shattered when they went down 1-9 to 1-7 to a superior Wolfe Tones side.
Wolfe Tones had five points on the board before Clarecastle got off the mark in the 12th minute, via Derek Quinn's long-range free.
Daithi O'Connell's goal rattled Clarecastle, but they rallied to fire off five unanswered points to leave the half-time score 1-5 to 0-6.
CLARE SHC SEMI-FINALS: Newmarket 1-9 (B Gaffney 0-6, four frees; C Ryan 1-0, D Barrett 0-2, P Collins 0-1); Crusheen 1-8 (G O'Grady 1-2, 1-1 from frees, one point from a 65; G O'Donnell 0-2; P Vaughan 0-2; A Brigdale 0-1; B O'Donnell 0-1); Wolfe Tones 1-9 (D O'Connell 1-1; G McPhillips 0-3, two frees; B O'Connell 0-1; B McPhillips 0-1; P Keyes 0-1; D O'Rourke 0-1; F Lohan 0-1); Clarecastle 1-6 (D Quinn 0-4, three frees, one 65; T Kearse 1-0; D Scanlan 0-1; J Clancy 0-1; S Moloney 0-1).
In the county's football semi-finals played 24 hours earlier at Miltown-Malbay, champions St Senan's of Kilkee were sent packing by Lissycasey on a 1-13 to 2-6 scoreline, while Éire Óg of Ennis beat Doonbeg 2-9 to 0-7.
