NEWTOWN have probably created something of a record - winning a senior football league final with only ten players on Friday night.

Eight players received straight red cards from Tinahely referee Kieran Kenny and six of those players (including a sub) were from Newtown and the remaining two players were from Carnew.

However this match only turned sour in the closing ten minutes, when all seven players were sent off, and before that the exchanges were contested in a good sporting spirit by both teams.

It was the Dunne Cup final for 2008 and both Carnew as well as the magpies had their reasons for winning this coveted trophy and competition.

Carnew, though only an intermediate team at the time, had a great run in division one of the leagues in 2008 and they were keen to finish it off by lifting the Dunne Cup.

The Dunne Cup honours a former Newtown great and for that reason alone the magpies were determined that the trophy stay at home.

Carnew had a good start to the match at Roundwood on Friday night, setting the early pace as they led their opponents on four occasions including being ahead by 0-4 to 03 at the break.

Playing at corner-forward, Joe Murphy got Carnew off to the perfect start with an early point, but the fact that Newtown came back three times to level the scores in the opening half was an indication of the end to end nature of the football.

Pushing forward in support of his attackers, centre-back Neily Martin blasted a shot against the Carnew post and wide; at the other end Thomas Kennedy's testing shot brought a good save from Ciaran McGuirl at the expense of a '45'.

Dean Odlum cancelled Joe Murphy's opener when he pointed a free after 5 minutes; ten minutes later Seanie Kinsella harvested a lead point for Carnew when he converted a free for a foul on himself, but Garrett Doyle made it all square again within a minute later.

Thus the exchanges ebbed and flow, with little between the sides. Into the last ten minutes of the half and Kinsella nudged the Wexford border men ahead again from a long ball out of defence but Newtown's corner-forward Barry Davis brought the teams back to square one for a third time.

Whatever edge was in it in the first half rested with Carnew. Wing-back Nicky Skelton gave his team a 0-4 to 0-3 half time lead. It might have been more as Keith Osbourne crashed a shot against the post after being set up by his brother and midfielder Brian.

On the change over, however, the trend of the play swung in favour of Newtown. Unanswered points by Jason Fitzsimons, Garrett Doyle, Barry Davis, Ross Odlum and Neily Martin put them very much in the driving seat, comfortably ahead by 0-8 to 0-4 before the end of the third quarter.

Andy Halpin at full-back, Neily Martin at centre-half, Craig Smullen and county star Dean Odlum were driving Newtown forward.

Indeed Carnew did not have their first score until the 50 minute, a point by Joe Murphy from a free.

Then at the same time as the first of the two rows erupted on the stand sideline, Newtown's Dean Odlum sneaked his way down the far right flank before drilling a screaming shot into the far corner of the net with his left boot. This was the clinching goal really.

Referee Kieran Kenny flashed a number of red cards, some for verbals, most of them to Newtown players.

The game continued. But hostilities flared again a couple of minutes from the end. This time most of the players still on the field got sucked into a punch-up.

Referee Kenny dished out more red cards and Newtown were down to ten players, five players having been sent off and one sub also red carded.

Carnew were down to 13 men, two of their players having received red cards.

On the stroke of 60 minutes Keith Osbourne scored Carnew's sixth point, but Dean Odlum had the last say for Newtown a minute later. Newtown still won with ten men and Fixtures boss Mick Hagan presented the Dunne Cup to their captain Garrett Doyle.