Butler orchestrates Leinster victory

A first-half blitz helped a Stephen Butler-inspired Leinster oust Munster 4-2 in the opening game of the men’s senior interprovincials at Garryduff this evening. The Glenanne stalwart had a hand in all four of Leinster’s goals, before Munster gave some glimpses of their ability later on, with the C of I quartet of David Hobbs, John Jermyn, Jonny Bruton and Alec Moffett doing some damage. David Harte had pulled off some tidy stops from Mitch Darling and Butler as Leinster came flying out of the traps, but it was the hosts who hit the front against the run of play, Jermyn drag-flicking home their second penalty corner on 12 minutes. However, Leinster were level inside 60 seconds. Butler used the auto-pass rule to engineer some space on the left before finding Peter Blakeney. He rounded defender Conor Harte but the ball ran loose to Gareth Watkins, who was left with the simplest of finishes. And it didn’t take long for Leinster to hit the front, with Butler finding the backboard from a corner on 16 minutes, before Alan Giles gave them a psychological fillip a minute before half-time. He volleyed home skilfully at waist height after a Munster defender had half-blocked another Butler effort, meaning Stephen Jackson’s  side had it all to do after the break. But Leinster weren’t done yet, and Butler turned provider once more for Peter Blakeney on 42 minutes to put the result beyond doubt. However, as Leinster took their foot off the gas, Munster began to strut their stuff. Jermyn pickpocketed Darling and forced a save from Iain Walker on 58 minutes, only to fire agonisingly wide with the goal gaping second time around. A neat Bruton flick forced a superb stop from Walker after a quickfire breakaway involving Conor Harte and Patrick Shanahan. But with Leinster’s Ronan Gormley in the sin-bin, Jermyn finally pulled one back for Munster with six minutes left, firing home after Alec Moffett had done superbly to mug a visiting defender on the endline. Leinster now take on Ulster tomorrow at 2pm, knowing that a win of any kind will wrap up the title with 24 hours to spare. The northerners have given a late call-up to Chris Cargo, the former Bangor man who plays in the English hockey league with Reading. Cargo replaces schoolboy star David Ames, who was forced out after damaging his elbow while playing in the Burney Cup final for Cookstown High School.