NEWTOWNSHANDRUM are in good shape approaching their date with Kilkenny's Ballyhale / Shamrocks in the All-Ireland club semi-final. That message was clearly relayed as they cruised to victory over Sarsfields at Pairc Uí Rinn last Sunday to lift the 2009 county senior hurling league title.

Anything less than a convincing win would have been a source of concern to Newtown supporters of course, given that Sars, largely inactive since being unceremoniously dethroned in the county championship decider last October, were bound to be at a disadvantage in terms of preparation and fitness.

As things transpired, there was never any real danger that Newtown were going to be denied the laurels as they served up a performance rich in skill, flair and fluency to run out unflattering victors by ten points. Afterwards team manager Phil Noonan said he was happy enough with the display, although he felt it got a bit messy at times in the second half. "But we responded well after Sars got their goal, and we scored some very good points to pull away near the end.

"It was a good open game of hurling, and you can't beat a competitive match for sharpening fellas up. It was an important win for us, because we hadn't won the county senior league before, and we didn't pick up any injuries, so, all in all, we are very pleased," he revealed.

Never headed at any stage, Newtown always maintained an advantage after a brace of Cathal Naughton points in quick succession pushed them 0-3 to 0-1 ahead inside nine minutes. Naughton was in flying form at midfield in the first half when Jerry O'Connor also sparkled on the '40 against Fraggie Murphy, who didn't function with any real authority in an unfamiliar centre-back role for Sars.

The experiment of placing Conor O'Sullivan at midfield also backfired on Sars as he struggled to make an impact before moving to his customary corner back berth in a switch with Ray Ryan for the second half. With Cian McCarthy chipping in with an excellent point from a sideline ball, Sars stayed in touch during the opening quarter before a flurry of scores shared by Jerry O'Connor, John Paul King and Ben O'Connor enabled Newtown to lead by 0-10 to 0-4 after 20 minutes.

Shortly before Ben O'Connor opened his account, Sars centre forward Daniel Kearney shot narrowly wide with a clear-cut chance of a goal, while wing forward Daniel Roche brought the best out of Newtown 'keeper William Biggane coming up to half-time.

Sars also had reason to reflect ruefully on their poor shooting which brought them eight wides, six more than Newtown, before the break. For all that, Newtown were clearly the superior side in the first half, at the end of which they led by 1-13 to 0-7. Jamie Coughlan grabbed the Newtown goal which made it 1-12 to 0-6 after 26 minutes, and it was due reward for the talented teenager, who proved quite a handful for Ray Ryan in the opening period when Michael Bowles regularly caught the eye as well on the left wing.

It's a measure of the widespread threat from the Newtown attack that all six forwards contributed to their first half tally, with midfielders Naughton, who notched three points, and PJ Copse also getting on the scoresheet. Pat Mulcahy, who was always in control at centre back, drew first blood for Newtown on the resumption, putting the finishing touch to a typically slick build-up involving Jamie Coughlan, Jerry O'Connor and Cathal Naughton.

To their credit, Sars never lost heart, and their determined efforts were rewarded as. thanks primarily to Cian McCarthy's accuracy from placed balls, they began to nibble away at the deficit before a Robert O'Driscoll goal brought them back within striking range, 1-17 to 114, after 50 minutes.

Almost immediately, however, Michael Bowles landed a sublime point from out near the left touchline to put Newtown back on course. They were 1-20 to 1-14 to the good after some delightful interplay between Jerry O'Connor and Cathal Naughton resulted in the latter shooting what was arguably the best score of the game approaching the last five minutes.

William Biggane saved well from Cian McCarthy before Jamie Coughlan stretched the gap to seven points, and the excellent Biggane again denied McCarthy a consolation goal from a penalty won by substitute Eoin O'Sullivan on the run-in.

Two Jerry O'Connor points, which sandwiched another from substitute John O'Connor, embellished Newtown's convincing victory with time running out. The manner in which Newtown responded when danger threatened suggests they were always playing well within themselves, and, in the final analysis, they held most of the aces, with Pat Mulcahy, Jerry O'Mahony and Dermot Gleeson earning the main plaudits at the back on the day.

Conor O'Sullivan, in the second half, Cian Smith, William Kearney, Cian McCarthy, Tadgh Og Murphy and Robert O'Driscoll achieved most for the losers, whose cause wasn't helped by the fact that big Michael Cussen, apart from shooting a good point in the first half, had a very subdued outing in attack.

- Noel Horgan at Pairc Uí Rinn