We had just seen Imokilly demolish the champions with an awesome display of power-packed hurling that is going to be extremely difficult for their final opponents to beat.

As a senior county semi-final it was disappointing. The defending champions, apart from the opening quarter during which the sides were level twice, had no answer to the tenacity, physical strength and scoring power of the divisional side.

It's often been said that, when the O'Connor twins are on song, Newtown hurl like a well-oiled machine. On this occasion, however, Imokilly did their homework to perfection and, once the threat of Gerry and Ben was negated, the champions were like a rudderless ship.

Ben threatened early on with the game's opening two points, but when Barry Murphy was moved over on him after a minute, that threat disappeared as the Bride Rovers man beat him to every ball.

Gerry was picked at wing forward but began on the 40 where he could make no impression on the teak tough Mick Daly, but to be fair to the Newtown man he did lighten up a dreary one-sided match with a magnificent individual goal in the 23rd minute, after he left Daly in his wake following a 50-yard run.

However, the Cobhman didn't allow him to make anymore of those darting runs for which he is renowned for and it was Joe Deane and Niall McCarthy who took this game by the scruff of the neck.

Deane turned in another magnificent display, chalking up 2-5. Niall McCarthy also made a huge impression at full forward, chipping in with 2-3 from play. Another reason for Imokilly's impressive victory was the excellence of Ronan Dwane at centre forward where Newtown's usually reliable Pat Mulcahy struggled all through to contain the Aghada man.

The magnificent long range free taking of Mark Landers and the pace of Brendan Coleman and Jerome O'Driscoll were other contributory factors to Imokilly's impressive victory but it was essentially a team performance and it would be a brave man who would bet against them in the final on the evidence of this display. Newtown will be bitterly disappointed, not just at losing their crown, but for their failure to play anywhere near their potential.

They've had a fantastic run, but caught a tartar in Imokilly on this occasion and can have no complaints about the final outcome.

We were given a glimpse of Imokilly's undoubted potential when Niall McCarthy goaled twice in the space of two minutes, and Newtown began to struggle. However, a marvellous goal by Gerry O'Connor was just the tonic they needed, but before the cheering had died down, the East Cork divisional side struck a decivise blow when Joe Deane won Ronan Dwane's cross out of the air before giving Newtown keeper Paul Morrissey no chance and the signs were ominous for the defending champions as they went in at half-time trailing 3-8 to 1-9.

Imokilly tightened the screw on the change-over with a litany of points. Newtown introduced Mike Morrissey for his first game since badly injuring his leg in a NHL game against Wexford back in April, and, while the biggest cheer of the night was reserved for the Cork senior player, it was Imokilly who responded best with a second Joe Deane goal which effectively killed off the reigning champions.

Scorers:

Newtownshandrum: Ben O'Connor 1-6 (1-4 frees), John O'Connor 1-2, Pat Mulcahy 0-3 (0-2 frees, 0-1 '65), Donal Mulcahy, John Paul King, Ian Kelleher 0-1 each.

Imokilly: J Deane 2-5 (0-1 free), N McCarthy 2-3, M Landers 0-5 (0-3 65's, 0-2 frees), B Coleman 0-3, J O'Driscoll 0-2 (0-1 free), V Morrissey, R Dwane 0-1 each.

NEWTOWNSHANDRUM: Paul Morrissey, Gerry O'Mahony, Brendan Mulcahy, John McCarthy, John Griffin, Pat Mulcahy, Philip Noonan, Alan T O'Brien, Ian Kelleher, Donal Mulcahy, Gerry O'Connor, John Paul King, Bertie Troy, Ben O'Connor, John O'Connor.
Subs: Mike Morrissey for Troy, Alan J O'Brien for John McCarthy, David Coughlan for Griffin.

IMOKILLY: B Rochford (Killeagh), Barry Murphy (Bride Rovers), S Barrett (Carrigtwohill), J Flavin (Fr. O'Neills), M Landers (Killeagh), M Daly (Cobh), G Melvin (Aghada), J Barrett (Carrigtwohill), D Barrett (Cobh), B Coleman (Youghal), R Dwane (Aghada), J Brenner (Killeagh), J O'Driscoll (Bride Rovers) N McCarthy (Carrigtwohill), J Deane (Killeagh)
Subs: Brian Murphy (Bride Rovers) for Flavin, K Hartnett (Russell Rovers) for J Barrett, A Murphy (Youghal) for Melvin, V Morrissey (Aghada) for N McCarthy, P O'Regan (Watergrasshill) for J Brenner.

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