"We felt hard done by after the game in Charleville two years ago" These were the comments of Avondhu Coach Conor Hannon after his side completely outplayed Ballyhea to set up an eagerly awaited semi-final clash with Newtown on Sunday 1st Sept.

Conor Hannon didn't know then which team he would be meeting in the semi-final of the Senior Championship but one suspects he was hoping it would be Newtown.

On that evening in Charleville two years ago Avondhu went into the game with a big reputation only to be humbled on the night but a more determined Newtown outfit.

Last night I went to Kilworth worried that without Gerry O'Connor we would struggle against an Erins Own team that had done nothing wrong up to this, disposing of Cloyne with ease in the previous round.

I should have known better, the team were very focused from the work go and you could see they were really up for this one. While Newtown didn't set the world alight, they did enough on the night against a disappointing Erins Own team. Newtown will be delighted to be in the semi-final of the Championship without playing to their potential.

Newtown started brightly and with points from John O'Connor(2),Ben O'Connor(2) and JP King Newtown went into a 0-05 to 0-01 lead after 12 minutes.

However Newtown seemed to rest on their laurels at this point and were fortunate to go in at the interval 0-07 to 0-06 in front. Paul Morrissey was forced to make a brilliant point blank save from Thomas O'Leary coupled with some excellent defending from the inside line.

In that first half all the backs were prominent, especially Brendan and Pat Mulcahy, while up front JP King looked very sharp along with John O'Connor,Mike Morrissey and Ben O'Connor.

Erins Own tactic of doing a man marking job on Ben O'Connor by Cian O'Connor backfired slightly on them as they seemed to lack shape in their defence.

On the resumption Newtown started brightly again with two excellent points for minor James Bowles. Erins Own refused to give in though and there were only 2 points between the sides when Timmy Kelliher was sent off for two bookable offences.

This changed the course of the game and from then to the end there was always only going to be one winner. Erins own's attempts to get back into the game were thwarted on each occasion with John McCarthy at first and then Philip Noonan acting as the extra man sweeping around the full back line.

On the night Newtown had excellent performances by all six backs, with Pat Mulcahy majestic on the forthy. Paul Morrissey had a fine game also in the goal. Ian Kelliher made a fine comeback at midfield while up from James Bowles, JP King and Ben O'Connor can be very happy with their night's work. One thing is for sure, Newtown will have to improve on this performance to get the better of Avondhu.