Perhaps the only crumb of consolation for Newtownshandrum, after they were forced to relinquish their hold on the TSB county senior hurling championship title at Pairc Ui Chaoimh last Sunday evening, was that not a club team in the country could have lived with Imokilly on the form they produced in this one-sided semi-final.

It was indeed a magnificent performance from the East-Cork divisional side, highlighted by the brilliance of Joe Deane and Niall McCarthy in attack, and it arguably surpassed anything they have served up since emerging as a major power in the mid 90's.

True, the North Cork men made a reasonably encouraging start when aided by a fresh breeze, and, with Ben O' Connor quick to make an impact at full-forward, they led by 0-3 to 0-1 inside six minutes.

They were 0-4 to 0-3 to the good after wing-forward, Donal Mulcahy, pointed in the tenth minute, but by then it was clear that Imokilly were beginning to settle into a rhythm, and they steadily increased the tempo to move into a commanding position before half-time.

Trailing by 3-8 to 1-9 at the break, one felt that Newtown, given the extent of their problems through- out the field, and particularly in the full-back line, would need something in the nature of a minor miracle if they hoped to get back into contention on the resumption.

But there was to be no divine intervention in the second-half as Imokilly clinically set about the task of dismantling Newtown's resistance with a near flawless display of power-packed hurling.

In truth it was little short of exhibition stuff from the challengers, who could quire easily have doubled their winning margin of 12 points but for the heroics of Paul Morrissey between the sticks for Newtown.

Apart from 'keeper Morrissey, however, precious managed to emerge from the fray with their reputations intact, with even big guns such as Pat Mulcahy, John Paul King and the O'Connor twins, Ben and Gerry, making just spasmodic contributions on this occasion.

Without ever producing anything close to his best form, Philip Noonan hurled steadily enough at right-half back against Waterford inter-county man Johnny Brenner, and Ian Kelleher worked hard to keep the Newtown flag flying at midfield for most of the hour.

Donal Mulcahy had his moments too in the half- forward line, but the remainder will want to forget this game in a hurry, not least John Griffin, Brendan Mulcahy and John McCarthy in the full-back line.

Ironically, seasoned stalwart McCarthy started very well in the left corner, and as did pat Mulcahy at center-back while both John Paul King and Ben O' Connor showed a share of early promise too at the other end.

O' Connor had put two points on the board, the second from a free, by the second minute and, fed by John Paul King, he added another in reply to Brendan Coleman's opening score for Imokilly as Newtown hinted they were ready to make a bold bid to extend their winning run.

It wasn't very long, however, before it became obvious that John Griffin was going to have his hands full against Joe Deane, and, even more disturbing from a Newtown point of view, was the manner in which the normally dependable Brendan Mulcahy struggled to cope with the threat from Imokilly full-forward, Niall McCarthy virtually from the outset.

Improved play from Imokilly's Jerome O' Driscoll, against John McCarthy, and Ronan Dwane, against Pat Mulcahy, served to heighten Newtown's defensive woe's as the first-half wore on, and once wing-back Mark Landers began to dominate against John Paul King, who spoiled much of his early good work through poor shooting, the divisional side steadily grew in stature.

With Mick Daly keeping a very tight rein on Newtown centre-forward, Gerry O'Connor, Imokilly managed to limit the service to Ben O'Connor, who found it increasily difficult to elude the attentions of sticky full-back, Barry Murphy, in any case.

Murphy was always well- supported by his flankers, Sean Barrett and John Flavin, and, with Derek Barrett at midfield and Brendan Coleman at wing-forward also showing up well, all the pieces appeared to be failing smoothly into place for Imokilly towards the end of the opening quarter.

Ahead for the first time at 0-5 to 0-4, courtesy of a Niall McCarthy point in the 14th minute, Imokilly added a goal four minutes later when McCarthy finished with style after making a great catch on a Mark Landers' free at the edge of the square.

Gerry O'Connor, placed by Donal Mulcahy, replied almost immediately with a good point for Newtown, but their prospects suffered another major body-blow a minute later when great work by Jerome O' Driscoll allowed Niall McCarthy to rattle the net.

At that stage, Gerry O'Connor and Donal Mulcahy had swapped positions in the half-forward line, and they both benefited from the switch to bring about a brief improvement in Newtown's fortunes up front.

The champions allowed a goal chance to go abegging in the 22nd minute when Ben O' Connor did well to seen his brother John clear in the left corner, but the latter took a bit too much out of the ball before being dispossessed at the expense of a '65 which Pat Mulcahy converted. Within seconds, however, Gerry O'Connor slipped Mick Daly on the right wing, and completed a strong run with a well struck goal, cutting the gap to the bare minimum. 2-5 to 1-7, in the process.

But that was as good as it got for the holders, whose last line of defence was glaringly exposed again before half-time as Joe Deane expertly collected a good cross from Ronan Dwane to fire in a great goal, and Jerome O' Driscoll and Niall McCarthy quickly tacked on a brace of points to put Imokilly firmly in the driving seat.

Despite being denied two more goals when John McCarthy made a stop on the line from Niall McCarthy, and Paul Morrissey later proved equal to a poorly-struck Joe Deane effort from close-range, Imokilly remained five points to the good 3-11 to 1-12 after 40 minutes.

In a bid to give the team a lift, Newtown brought Mike Morrissey, one of the stars of their historic triumph in 2000 and sidelined with an injury for all of their championship outings this season, into the attack at that stage, and his introduction was greeted by one of the biggest cheers of the evening.

Morrissey had barely taken his place at full-forward, however, when Joe Deane grabbed a Derek Barrett lob to drill home goal number 4 for Imokilly and effectively finish the game as a contest.

The rest of the match featured some radar-like marksmanship by Imokilly skipper, Mark Landers from long-range frees, and an excellent display of net- minding by Paul Morrissey, who kept out raspers from Niall McCarthy, Joe Deane and Jerome O' Driscoll in turn to spare Newtown even greater embarrassment.

To their credit, Newtown were prepared to battle away until the bitter end, but their short-passing game in attack never looked likely to yield results again a razor-ship Imokilly rearguard in which Mark Landers and Mick Daly both turned in five-star performances in the half-back line.

Industrious centre-forward Ronan Dwane, Niall McCarthy, Jerome O' Driscoll and the immaculate Joe Deane, who was faced by three different Newtown defenders over the hour, earned the main plaudits up front as a highly accomplished Imokilly side, playing a much more direct brand of hurling, cruised into a 4-20 to 1-14 lead before Ben O'Connor bagged a consolation goal from a free for Newtown in the dying seconds.

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