Buttevant savour their latest win in Munster: 'These are unbelievable times for the club'

Buttevant’s credentials were tested on Saturday afternoon in the AIB Munster Club JFC semi-final in Kildorrery.

The Avondhu side might have won by 10 points in the end, but they were given a proper assignment by Limerick champions Ahane.

There were only four points in it late on, but a Pádraig Harnett black card was a crucial turning point. The team in black and amber finished strong to prevail on a scoreline of 2-15 to 0-11.

“Ahane gave us plenty of it out there today in all fairness,” Buttevant selector Eoin O’Regan said post-match.

“I suppose many people would have said that we were going to have an easy win, but we knew they were going to give us plenty of it. They're an honest team and a coming team.

“They've won two counties on the bounce. We knew we weren't going to get anything easy today. I suppose at the same time, we probably weren’t at our best.

“We'll learn a lot from the game. We’ll improve from this. We’re having the year of our lives, so we're not going to shy away from any tests now and we are in a Munster final and we will look forward to it.” 

There were many times when it looked like Buttevant would pull away from Ahane, but for one reason or another, it didn’t transpire.

Mark Lenahan, who went off injured in the 25-point win over Shamrocks in the quarter-final, kicked 1-5, all from play, in this one.

“The rhythm and that was probably a bit off for some reason,” O’Regan says.

“There were a few loose passes and that. We had to dig deep and we did. We got some great scores to win comfortably enough in the end. We know though that we have to improve big time for the next day."

The Avondhu men are looking to add another piece of silverware in a fortnight to go with the McCarthy Insurance Group Premier JFC title.

Ballymacelligott of Kerry will be the opposition in the provincial final.

“Look, these are unbelievable times for the club. Some people probably can’t believe what’s happening to be honest.

“This is the best year we've ever had as a club. Maybe we will never see anything like this again.

“From tomorrow on, we will focus on Ballymacelligott. They’re going to be a massive test for us, any team from Kerry will be a difficult team. It’s something though to really be excited by and there will be a great buzz around the place.

“We will look back at the video from this Ahane game and then it's double vision, everything geared towards Ballymacelligott.” O’Regan concluded.