The 24-year-old's superb delivery set up Ciaran Clark for United's first goal at St. James' Park, while it was his centre that led to Dwight Gayle making it 2-0 after quarter of an hour.
After the break, the England international helped put the Bees to bed, squaring for Gayle to tap in his second before continuing to pull the strings in what was a commanding showing in midfield.
Afterwards Shelvey told nufc.co.uk how much he's enjoying his football at the moment, adding that he feels he's in "best shape I've ever been in"."I'm really enjoying my football. I think it doesn't matter where you play, in terms of position or anything like that - you just want to be on the pitch playing games, and that's the main thing," he said. "Luckily, the gaffer's shown a lot of faith in me to put me in, and I feel like I'm repaying him and the fans with the performances."Since I've come here I've not really had the consistency in my game, and I feel that this season it's really picked up, and long may it continue."It's nice to get that run of games where you're playing week-in, week-out, and you know that you've got the ability to go out and if you turn up, then there's more chance than not that you're going to be one of the better players on the pitch."I think that's a motivational thing as well as a physical thing, but I feel I'm in the best shape I've ever been in, so it was only a matter of time before I started putting the performances together."Shelvey's two assists helped the Magpies put the game beyond Brentford, who pulled one back through Scott Hogan.And having put his excellent range of passing on display against Dean Smith's men, he said that he was more than happy to help supply the chances for the likes of Gayle to bury.
"I gave one pass away at the end when I had a little bit of cramp, but on a pitch like that you shouldn't really be giving the ball away," he said. "You've got so much time and space on the ball, and if you've got enough confidence and you've got no fear then you should be able to hit those passes."It's been a long wait between the last game and this game, so it was important just to go out and get the three points. It's obviously always nice to assist Dwight with some goals, because he's always moaning about not getting enough service!"But it doesn't matter who scores or anything like that - it just matter that we get the three points."
Shelvey added: "I think in games like that when you're on top, you need to score quickly and then it settles everyone around the stadium. You can go on and dominate the game, and I think we did that."There was a little scare in the second half, but I felt we dealt with it, came out of it and killed the game off."It was from a set piece, so we'll obviously look at that. The gaffer will analyse it and help us put it right, but after that I still thought we were pretty much in control. We fully deserved the three points today."
Newcastle will now head to Barnsley on Tuesday night, hoping to extend their unbeaten run to six games in all competitions.Shelvey praised the supporters who will once more provide their backing in numbers at Oakwell, and says he's relishing the coming month - which is jam-packed full of fixtures - as his side look to keep up the pressure on Sky Bet Championship leaders Norwich City.
"It was important to get another win, and obviously it's going to be another busy period we've got coming up, so fingers crossed we can go on a run, and hopefully win on Tuesday," he said."As a footballer, you want the next games to come thick and fast. You'd rather play a game than train, to be honest - it might sound bad, but that's what you do. You're a footballer, so you want to be playing football matches."It's more exciting for the fans, because they get to come and see you play. The good thing about this club is we always take tremendous support wherever we go, and it gives you a real belief going into the away games as well."
