Buttevant footballers are one big step away from making more history 

Buttevant make the short trip to Mallow tomorrow for what is without question the biggest game in the club’s history.

The Avondhu side take on Ballymacelligott in the AIB Munster Club JFC final with a start time of 1pm.

The team in black and amber are backboned by many of the side that won the Minor A football county title in 2015.

One of the heroes back then was Kevin Lenahan. The midfielder has been in sparkling form this season for Buttevant.

“It has been a great journey for us and the win over Charleville three years ago kickstarted this run,” the 27-year-old says.

“We beat them in the Avondhu final and it was the year of the restructuring so we went up to the Premier Junior grade.

“We also climbed the ladder in the leagues getting up to Division 4. It has been incredible stuff and winning the county this year was just unreal.

“Reaching the Munster final is unknown territory for Buttevant and the likelihood of it happening again in my playing career is definitely very slim. You would have to win two championships on the trot to compete again.

“We have had two games in Munster so far. We brought big support down to Dungarvan for our game with Shamrocks and then it was a special day in Kildorrery the last day against Ahane.

“It has been a marvellous year in general for the club, going back up to Junior A in hurling after winning the Junior B last year. We also have had a massive fundraising effort to upgrade the facilities. To win the Munster title would be class. Buttevant have never got this much attention before.” 

Making the provincial decider was worlds apart last season after Buttevant lost to Kilmurry in the county semi-final. That encounter was one of huge regret for the Avondhu side, but it has proved beneficial in the long run.

“The loss to Kilmurry was really hard to take, it took us a while to get over it to be honest,” the midfielder states.

“Seeing them go on then and be successful in Munster, there was definitely an aspect of jealousy. We underperformed massively that day and it did prove to be a huge motivation for this campaign.

“Seeing Kilmurry win the Munster last year does give us some hope going into the Ballymacelligott game because everyone knows that Kerry teams have had a stranglehold on this competition.” 

Lenahan is not underestimating the challenge of Ballymacelligott. Buttevant though want to keep the trophy on Leeside after Kilmurry claimed glory 12 months ago.

“We know what we are facing in this Munster final. Ballymacelligott performed quite well in Division 1 of the league this year in Kerry. We were down in Division 4 in Cork, that’s a big gap.

“We have played in Mallow plenty of times. We played there this year against Millstreet in a game where we kicked ten two-pointers in the first half. Mallow is a great pitch and we are looking forward to making the short spin.

“We are all excited about this game, it’s going to be a great battle between two even teams.”