Mark Lenahan hits 1-10 as Buttevant beat Uibh Laoire to claim the Junior B Hurling championship title

Buttevant 2-16 

Uibh Laoire 1-10 

Buttevant cruised to victory in the Co-op Superstores Confined Junior B Hurling Championship final courtesy of goals from Mark Lenahan and Donal Ryan.

Their dominant second half performance in Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday ensured they won as favourites over Uibh Laoire, with Lenahan’s 1-10 integral to the nine point win.

After two missed goal chances Buttevant’s dual star Lenahan would not be stopped at the third time of asking – making an almost identical run as his effort moments previous, but this time he drilled it into the top right corner, 1-8 to 0-4 after 36 minutes.

Uibh Laoire struggled to reach their first half form, and a nine minute scoring drought came to an end through Sean O’Riordan, but Buttevant sealed it with another goal, as Chris O’Toole dropped it deep and Donal Ryan knocked it into the net after 52 minutes.

A late goal for Jim Power provided little more than a consolation for Uibh Laoire, who were down by nine at this stage. 

There were too many periods in the game were Uibh Laoire were ineffective going forward, and it cost them.

Scores from Lenahan and Seamus Madigan put them two up early on – though a severe ankle injury in the 11th minute would force Madigan off.

A fantastic over the shoulder effort from Sean O’Riordan put Uibh Laoire’s first on the board after eight minutes, but that would be their only score for the next 17 minutes.

The Buttevant full-forward continued to impress with another two scores from play, one from out wide, the latter at close range.

Even with their dominance in possession, it was clear the north-Cork side could do better, as evident with the three misses to Lenahan’s name.

Uibh Laoire’s second score arrived after 25 minutes when James Maguire pointed from a free, but their lack of threat up front was deeply concerning, especially given their failure to deal with Lenahan on the defensive end.

They pressed on though, and a superb point from Liam Kearney lifted the crowd and his Uibh Laoire teammates, but they were fortunate not to go further behind as they let up two dangerous goalscoring opportunities, with Lenahan and David Keane left disappointed not to have found the back of the net, a sign of what was to come.

The Avondhu Division 2 League champions held a three point lead at the interval – 0-7 to 0- 4, despite hitting six wides in total, as well as the post from a free.

Early in the second half, an excellent puckout from Brian O’Shaughnessy found Aaron Trimm, and the forward used his pace to get in close but his strike was just wide of the goal.

A Lenahan free made it 0-8 to 0-4, he followed up with another dangerous goal drive, but his close range strike was superbly saved by David Dineen. 

Unfortunately for Uibh Laoire, he wouldn’t miss two minutes later.

Uibh Laoire’s first score of the half reduced the gap to six, but Lenahan was unstoppable, and by the end of the third quarter he had taken his tally to 1-6 from play, with his side ahead by eight points.

Another goal chance for Buttevant went astray, although Shane O’Callaghan did everything right – but Dineen’s stop was phenomenal, as it went over for a point. 

The game was all but over when Ryan added a second goal, even though they were outscored 1-2 to 0-3 in the last six minutes.

Scorers for Buttevant: M Lenahan 1-10 (0-3 f, 0-1 65), D Ryan 1-0, S O’Callaghan 0-2, D Keane, S Madigan, D O’Sullivan, N O’Riordan 0-1 each.

Uibh Laoire: J Power 1-2 f, S O’Riordan 0-3, L Kearney 0-2, S Pickering, J Maguire (f), S Galvin 0-1 each.

BUTTEVANT: B O’Shaughnessy; C Kennedy, K Lenahan, D O’Sullivan; J Whelan, C O’Toole, J O’Neill; J O’Brien, S Madigan; D Keane, A Trimm, A O’Neill, D Ryan, M Lenahan, S O’Callaghan.

Subs: K Crowley for Maddigan (13, inj), A Horgan for A O’Neill, N O’Riordan for J O’Neill (both 43), E O’Donoughue for O’Callaghan (56), M O’Connell for O’Brien (59) 

UIBH LAOIRE: D Dineen; J Pickering, D O’Donovan, B Murphy; K Manning, J Power, D O’Riordan; J O’Donovan, S O’Riordan; B O’Riordan, J Maguire, L Kearney; S Galvin, J Phelan, S Pickering.

Subs: B O’Leary for Phelan (HT), J McSweeney for Maguire (39), A McSweeney for Galvin (54) 

Referee: Pa Beausang (Midleton).