Hanlon backs Buttevant's attacking unit to deliver on big stage
Michael O’Neill and Aaron Trimm, Buttevant, keep the pressure on Conor Dodd, Canovee, in the McCarthy Insurance Group PJFC semi-final. Pic: Larry Cummins
Since Buttevant's four-point Premier JFC semi-final defeat to eventual champions Kilmurry just over 12 months ago, their plans have been clear - return to that semi-final juncture at the first time of asking.
They did just that by qualifying as the top team in the 2025 edition group stages. Victories over Glenville, Millstreet and Inniscarra - by eight, 28 and two points, respectively - yielded nine goals.
Direct passage to the last-four stage secured. Back to where they fell the year before. Their determination to keep their season going was evident as they disposed of Canovee in that semi-final with plenty to spare.
It was a performance that Buttevant boss Joey Hanlon insists was "brewing" for some time.
Although their opponents in Saturday's Premier JFC final, St Nick's, were the other outfit to skip over the quarter-final stage, what Buttevant have done to date will ensure they enter Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh wearing the favourites' tag.
Hanlon isn't looking too much into that, but insists it is something his side can choose to embrace or not.
"Well, we've no control over it, to be honest," Hanlon said. "That’s just people's opinion. We certainly have benefited from the new rules. We always had decent forwards and now they have a little bit more space to work in.
"Opinions of where we are... I suppose we've nothing won really to warrant that kind of a high profile.
"But at the same time, you either embrace it or it can cripple you."
1926. That was the last time a Buttevant team won an adult county football championship. That's 99 years, and an awful long time for a club to be waiting.
Does that add extra pressure to those taking to the field against St Nick's? Hanlon doesn't think so.
"I suppose that's not our baggage. It’s got nothing to do with us, really. We might have inherited that kind of history, but it's not our baggage at all," Hanlon said. "That has no bearing on Saturday. It's a county final. It's a 50-50 game.
"The most efficient team on the day will probably be the champions, and we'd be hoping that we'll be the most efficient."
Hanlon has had fellow St Senan's club man and former Limerick footballer Ian Ryan by his side for the last two seasons, and is someone that he and his players clearly rate very highly as a coach.
He may even prove himself to be what the Avondhu side have been lacking previous to his arrival - the "missing ingredient" as Hanlon puts it.
"I coached him in 2014 with St Senan’s and he was always challenging as a player, and I knew he'd make a brilliant coach. What he's brought to the table has been his experience; his expertise is second to none.
He plays free-flowing football; he's obviously one of the best forwards that has ever came out of Limerick, so the forwards love him... he's been the missing ingredient, really - if we win."
Hanlon expects St Nick's - who haven't conceded a goal thus far in the championship - to try and quell the obvious Buttevant scoring threat.
"I'm expecting them to try and stop our scoring threat, which is very evident," he said. "Defensively, they're obviously very solid, so we'll be looking to try and break that down, and I believe we've got the forwards to do that."
The Buttevant boss is sure his group deserve success, but he's also sure that they'll have to "work damn hard to get it".
And if they do indeed bridge that 99-year gap?
"Dream-come-true stuff."
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