A year wiser
December 31, 2010It's almost a common known fact in Cavan GAA a circles - with Phelim Plunkett at the helm and full pack of players available to them Butlersbridge are a force to be reckoned with for most teams in the county.
2009 proved that when the 'Bridge strode to a third Sean Leddy Cup triumph in eight years, added to an ACFL Division Three title to coincide with promotion and finished off another memorable year by claiming their first ever success in the ACFL Division Six final.
However, if the players didn't know the task at hand at the start of this past season, they surely knew it by the time the draws for the intermediate football championship were revealed. When Butlersbridge were drawn out of the hat they fell into a group with favourites Ballyhaise, Drumgoon and Killeshandra, and suddenly 2010 became an uphill battle before a ball was even kicked.
An opening defeat in the league at home to fellow promotion winners Bailieborough (2-13 to 1-9) wasn't the start players and management had hoped for and the team upped it when they travelled to neighbours Drumlane at the end of April. Plunkett's charges battled it out in Milltown and matched their opponents until the last quarter when the hosts pulled away to claim a 2-10 to 1-8 win.
Defeats to Knockbride (4-12 to 1-9), Cootehill (0-9 to 1-2) and Kill (2-4 to 0-8) confirmed a fifth straight defeat and that made a trip to Bunnoe in the third week of May crucial in order to boost morale. In front by a point at half-time, Drung had a battle on their hands to try and keep their hungry opponents at bay but a quick 1-1 from Alan Curran after the restart sent the 'Bridge five points adrift.
Staring a sixth consecutive defeat in the face, Plunkett's men regrouped and rediscovered their best form as they pumped possession into John Shannon and Paul Flynn, who managed to notch the scores which tied up the game with five minutes remaining. Substitute Oisin Henry fired over the lead point with the finish-line in sight and when Shannon and Sennin Flanagan blasted over two more scores, Butlersbridge's first victory of the season was sealed on a 1-13 to 1-10 score-line.
After what was a sorely needed win, the 'Bridge lifted themselves off the foot of the Division Two table with a 1-9 to 0-9 victory over Shercock at Emmet Park, where a Lorcan Mulvey goal made all the difference for the victors, who were now bidding to mount a good run of form.
Any hopes of climbing the table were dashed through when further losses to Killinkere (1-10 to 0-10), Drumalee (3-11 to 0-11) and Ballyhaise (0-10 to 0-3) were suffered. An encouraging performance against championship opponents Drumgoon towards the end of the league campaign may have ended in a fourth defeat on the trot, but it gave reason for optimism heading towards the end of July and championship territory.
When Butlersbridge made their first trip of the year to Kingspan Breffni Park it was Plunkett's native Ballyhaise that they were coming up against in their IFC opener. Tipped as favourites from the start of the year, Ballyhaise were the side that many teams in the second tier would have wanted to avoided the first day out, but the way the 'Bridge players and management looked at it was that they had nothing to lose and the approach very nearly paid dividends.
With all the pressure on Ballyhaise to deliver a result, the underdog's players raised their game as Lorcan Mulvey and Killian Shannon commanded centre-field for most of the hour and Flanagan brothers, Sennin and Fergal, did the damage up front along with Michael Fitzpatrick and Noel McPhillips. In the end it was Ballyhaise that scrambled and just held on for a narrow 1-16 to 2-10 win.
The performance had been up there with their best of the season thus far, with 2-10 proving the team's highest tally of 2010, and while the defeat was undoubtedly hard to take it also proved that Butlersbridge were well able to mix it with the best in the intermediate grade. Their start against Drumgoon in Cootehill the following weekend underlined the point.
In a competitive opening to the game, 'the Goonies' were left trailing by 0-2 to no score after the first five minutes thanks to a pair of points from corner-forward Sennin Flanagan which had the 'Bridge in the driving-seat early on. They looked to push on, but when Paddy McCabe netted Drumgoon went into a 1-3 to 0-2 lead at half-time. In the second-half Noel McPhilips set-up John Shannon to narrow the difference to a goal, but their opponents took over after that to limit the 'Bridge to only one more score from Michael Fitzpatrick to run-out comfortable winners and book their place into the quarter-finals.
The defeat ended Butlersbridge's hopes of progression to the last eight and while there was to be no relegation down to the junior ranks, there was still pride at stake when they met Killeshandra in Redhills for their remaining group game. However, for the Leaguers there was much more at stake as they needed a big win to advance to the knock-out stages at Ballyhaise's expense.
Tomas O'Reilly's goal after ten minutes got things off to a disastrous start for the junior champions and it was only through the points of Michael Fitzpatrick and Fergal Flanagan that they were within some sort of touching distance at half-time.
Three minutes into the resumption and the town side had the ball in the net again via a nice moved finished off by Adie Burns, but scores from Sennin Flanagan and Fitzpatrick (2) soon cancelled it out. That was about as good as it got for the 'Bridge though, their opponents finished 4-15 to 0-9 winners to progress to a quarter-final against rivals Drumlane, who sent them crashing out after a replay.
Butlersbridge (IFC v Killeshandra): Keith Gumley; Stephen O'Hara, Mark Shannon, Kieran Greenan; Diarmuid Mulvey, Andrew McConnell, Brian Greenan; Lorcan Mulvey (0-1), Carlos Conlon; John Shannon, Michael Fitzpatrick (0-5), Martin Fitzpatrick; Sennin Flanagan (0-1), Fergal Flanagan (0-1), Paul Murphy. Subs: Oisin Henry, Darren Fitzpatrick (0-1), Paul Flynn, Padraig Murphy.
The defeat brought down the curtain on a frustrating season for Butlersbridge as they failed to reach the heights of the previous year when they clinched three titles from the four competitions which they entered, but 2011 is another year and another chance for them to prove the doubters wrong and establish themselves as an intermediate force.
U14s complete thrilling comeback
Just when it looked as though the club were to finish their season without a championship title, the Under 14s turned their Roinn D decider against Maghera on its head in September to capture the Cup in some style.
After successful blitz wins by the Under 10s in Drumlane and Belturbet this past summer, the Under 14s weren't to be out done and mounted a successful run all the way to the Roinn D Championship decider.
The 'Bridge blossomed in the last ten minutes at Kingspan Breffni Park to score a magnificent 2-6 without reply to deny Maghera and claim the Under 14 Roinn D Championship title on a 2-17 to 2-13 score-line.
It was the winners that made the better start to this game as John Fitzpatrick, Caoimhin O'Reilly and Diarmuid McCorry fired over their first three points to outweigh Sean Hendrick's sole effort for the Meath border outfit, and by the quarter hour mark the 'Bridge were 0-7 to 0-1 in front.
Maghera recovered well in the second quarter to trail by just two points at the break and they picked up where they left off at the start of the second-half as two points from Niall Yore leveled the sides. From there the MacFinns looked to be in control as they posted 1-6 in the next 15 minutes to move into what looked like a winning lead.
However, Mickey Sheils' team showed terrific resolve when the game entered its last ten minutes and played their get out of jail card as two superbly struck goals from midfielder Dylan Bartley in the 53rd and 55th minutes levelled the game in stunning fashion. The momentum was with Butlersbridge to move in for the kill and they did so in the remaining five minutes, as a pair of points each from John Fitzpatrick, who finished with 0-9, and O'Reilly steered them towards the insured lead of four points in injury-time. A stern defence compiled of Eoin Hannick, Kevin Leddy; Oisin Hogan, Killian Leddy and Niall McGovern kept out any chance of Maghera scoring another goal which was enough for the 'Bridge to see out a memorable 2-17 to 2-13 triumph.
The Butlersbridge Under 14 side which defeated Maghera in the Roinn D final - Ben Owens; Eoin Hannick, Kevin Leddy; Oisin Hogan, Killian Leddy (0-1), Niall McGovern; Diarmuid McCorry (0-1), Dylan Bartley (2-1); Saulo Cantero, Caoimhin O'Reilly (0-5), Conor Shiels; Joshua Cherry, John Fitzpatrick (0-9). Sub: Colm Fitzpatrick. Tweet
