by Noel Horgan
The Corkman
Thursday, 12th September 2002

Nobody would dispute that Newtownshandrum were worthy winners of the 2000 permanent tsb county senior hurling championship.

En route to their historic triumph two years ago, Newtown rode roughshod over Ballincollig and UCC in their opening two games before pipping their home division Avondhu by a point in a thrilling quarter-final, and coming through another stiff test against Muskerry to book a place in the decider.

In the final, Newtown were by no means flattered to finish with three points to spare, 0-14 to 0-11, over Erins Own , and when they collected a third consecutive county u-21 title later that year, there appeared to be every reason to suspect that they would remain a formidable force in the top flight for quite some time to come.

For all that, there were those who felt that the fates had been extremely kind to the tender-aged Newtown combination in 2000.

It was argued, for instance, that the shock elimination of '99 kingpins Blackrock by Midleton, who later fell to Muskerry, had made Newtown's passage to the showpiece so much easier.

And, similarly, the perception was that the unexpected exit of Imokilly, champions in '97 and '98, at the hands of Erins Own in a semi-final replay was just what the doctor ordered as far as Newtown were concerned, and that they would have found it much more difficult to garner the glory if the vastly-experienced EastCork divisional side had provided the opposition in the final.

At any rate, both Blackrock and Imokilly were both rated above Newtown in the ante-post betting on last year's championship.

Newtown didn't enjoy the best of starts in the 2001 championship as, missing a few key players, they were forced to bow to the Barrs in the opening round.

But they bounced back from that defeat to register convincing wins over Seandun, Glen Rovers, by 18 points, and Carrigdhoun, earning a place in the last four in the process.

It wasn't enough to fully convince their critics, however, that Newtown were equipped to put two titles back-to-back, and the general consensus was that their credentials would really be put to the test when they threw down the gauntlet to Imokilly in the semi-final.

As things transpired, Newtown were completely outgunned on the day, and they could have no complaints whatsoever when they finished 12 points, 4-20 to 2-14 in arrears.

Indeed, Imokilly's winning margin would have assumed far greater proportions but for the heroics of Paul Morrissey between the sticks for Newtown.

Afterwards, coach Bernie O'Connor readily acknowledged that Imokilly were much the better team, and that his charges had received a chastening lesson, but he expressed the hope that they would be capable of getting the show back on the road in the near future.

"The lads are hurting badly now, but they are very serious about what they are doing, and, I can assure you, they will make every effort to restore their dented pride in the wake of this bitter disappointment," he said.

O'Connor, the main driving force behind Newtown's rapid rise to prominence following their county intermediate success in 1996, opted to relinquish control later that year in the belief that a new man at the helm was what was required to give the team a fresh impetus.

He was replaced by Tom Ryan, who came with a highly impressive track record, having steered the Limerick Senior team from relative obscurity to Munster championship wins in '94 and '96, and a National League title in '97.

As well as that, he has guided Toomevara and his home club Ballybrown to county championship success in Tipperary and Limerick respectively in the past.

On taking up his new post, Ryan admitted that he was very impressive by the sheer passion for the game in Newtown, and he said he was convinced that they would be serious contenders for the title this year.

Needless to say, this opinion wasn't universally shared, and Newtown's knockers certainly had a field day following last year's semi-final slump to Imokilly, who were well beaten themselves by Blackrock in the decider.

But, realistically, Newtown were entitled to be regarded as one of the chief pretenders to Blackrock's throne, especially since Imokilly were bound to be weakened considerably by the loss of such key players as Joe Deane, Mark Landers, Johnny Brenner and Bernard Rochford due to Killeagh's graduation to senior ranks.

After all, it was quite conceivable that Newtown hadn't done themselves justice against Imokilly last year, and that the best might be yet to come from a young team that had perhaps won the title ahead of schedule two years ago and had gained invaluable experience in the meantime.

Newtown opened their campaign agains Sarsfields in Buttevant where a couple of early goals from Jerry and John O'Connor paved the way for a hard-earned 2-11 to 0-13 win.

It wasn't an especially convincing performance by Newtown, and Tom Ryan conceded that significant improvement would be required if further progress was to be made.

In their next outing against Midleton at Fermoy, Newtown really scaled the heights as they trashed the East-Cork Magpies to the tune of 6-13 to 1-6, with the brilliant Ben O'Connor finishing with a personal tally of 2-8 to his credit.

A new-look Erins Own side were Newtown's opponents in the quarter-final at Kilworth where Pat Mulcahy turned in a tour-de-force at centre-back as the North Cork men finished 0-16 to 0-10 to the good in a dour contest that remained in the balance until the losers were reduced to 14 players midway through the second half.

Significantly, however, Newtown were never headed at any stage, and they always appeared to have enough in hand to prevent Erins Own from avenging their 2000 county final defeat.

Tom Ryan was very satisfied with that display, making the point that the team had shown admirable battling qualities to come out on the right side of what he felt, with Jerry O'Connor unable to start due to injury, was always going to be a difficult game.

Jerry O'Connor made a noteworthy contribution on being introduced for the last ten minutes of the Erins Own match which marked the return to the fold of Ian Kelleher, who lined out at right half back, and second-half substitute Donal Mulcahy, both of whom had spent the early part of the summer abroad.

It meant that for the first time since Donal Mulcahy skippered them to victory in 2000, Newtown, handicapped by the absence through injury of Mike Morrissey during last year's campaign, would have their strongest panel available when they squared up to Avondhu in the semi-final.

Nevertheless, Avondhu, having cruised to victories over Castlelyons, Douglas and Ballyhea in earlier outings, were expected to prove a major stumbling block to Newtown's bid for a second final appearance in three seasons.

But it turned out to be a gross mismatch as Newtown stamped their authority on the proceedings from a very early stage, and, while a couple of goals against the run of the play kept Avondhu in contention at half-time, there was never the slightest doubt about the outcome after Jerry O'Connor rattled the net to put five points between the sides shortly after the resumption.

With John Paul King chipping in with a second goal, Newtown eventually wound up victors by 2-18 to 2-6 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh last Sunday week.

It was probably Newtown's most impressive display since their emergence as a major force in senior ranks, and it suggests that they won't be easily foiled when they square up to Blackrock in next Sunday's mouth-watering final showdown at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Installed as favourites at the start of the championship to become the first club to retain the title since Midleton in 1987, Blackrock have done all that has been asked of them up to now.

They were much too strong for Douglas in their first outing, and they did well to survive a stern challenge from St. Finbarr's after that before turning on the power again to dispatch Muskerry in the quarter-final.

But they made very hard work of accounting for Sars in the curtain-raiser on the Pairc Ui Chaoimh two weeks ago, and Newtown supporters will no doubt be encouraged by what they saw on that occasion.

Not for the first time, it was the excellence of their defence that did most to carry Blackrock through against Sars, although Adrian Coughlan had a fine game also at midfield.

Equally impressive in the game against the Barrs, Coughlan has indeed made a major contribution to the Rockies progress, and Newtown will be hoping that Declan Murphy can reproduce the solid form which he displayed against Avondhu, and prevent Coughlan from making a similar impact on Sunday.

It must be a source of some concern to Blackrock, however, that their ace inside attackers Alan Browne, man-of-the-match in last year's final, and Brian O'Keeffe haven't exactly been setting the world on fire in the current campaign.

And it isn't beyond the bounds of possibility that the Rockies' half-forwards, in view of the manner in which they struggled for long periods against Sars, could find it even more difficult to make headway against Newtown's Alan T. O'Brien, Pat Mulcahy, majestic at centre-back in every outing so far, and Philip Noonan, who were all very much on top of their game against Avondhu.

With Cork players Wayne Sherlock, John Browne, Fergal Ryan and Alan Cummins on board, there is no disputing that the defence is the mainstay of this Blackrock team which will be making a fourth final appearance in five seasons.

And the likelihood is that the Rockies will be well on their way to claiming a third title since 1999, and the club's 32nd in all, if their defence comes up trumps again.

But it would be true to say that the Rockies' rearguard hasn't encountered a forward division with as much potential as Newtown's in any of their previous games.

Ben O'Connor, Cork's top forward this year, has carried his intercounty form into the county championship as his tally of 3-24 from four outings amply illustrates.

Jerry O'Connor and John Paul King have been scoring fairly freely as well, and, of course, Mike Morrissey has underlined his value to the team since his return with a string of forceful displays on the '40.

It remains to be seen how stylish Blackrock pivot Alan Cummins will cope with Morrissey's determined play on Sunday when Ben and Jerry O'Connor can be expected to alternate at full-forward in an effort to exploit the lack of mobility of veteran full-back Noel Keane, who is virtually unbeatable at close quarters.

No doubt, coach Timmy Murphy will have contingency plans in place in the event of Blackrock experiencing problems in the central defensive positions.

But one can't help feeling that, in the O'Connor twins, Ben and Jerry, and John Paul King, Newtown have the forwards with the pace and skill to test the holders' much vaunted rearguard to the hilt.

Despite their commendable consistency over the past five seasons, Blackrock, as was evident in the games against the Barrs and Sars, are by no means an invincible outfit in my book.

And Newtown's huge desire to bury the memory of last year's humiliation by Imokilly, and to forever silence those who contend that their momentous achievement in 2000 was little more than a flash-in-the-pan, could well be a trump card in what promises to be a fascinating final between what are unquestionably the two best teams in the county at the moment.