Club Notes 12/05/2024
Good evening. What a fantastic weekend for the club with being asked again to host the Boy’s Feile competition .The pitches were in excellent condition and we thank the pitch committee for all their hard work. To Tommy and the CE guy’s for helping with all the preparation.
U15 A Feile
Now that the Dust has settled on an unbelievable days football and an incredible achievement for this group of young men . 2024 Wicklow U15A Feile champions..
1st up was old rivals AGB this was a very tense & tight match with very little between the 2 sides at the end .. Although we dominated possession we were leaving a lot of scores behind and it kept Arklow in the game .. But a big turning point was James Mc carneys goal which gave us some breathing room , And huge moment was Ryan Sargent’s top class save near the end , Alfie Mc has a savage game too dominating at full back .. But when the final whistle blew we knew how important this 1st result was ..
Blesso 1-2 AGB 3pts-
Next up was Kiltegan again it was tight at the start , both teams kicking good scores but after a quick HT chat the lads kicked on and played some slick football and a Goal from Aaron Cantwell and some good scores from Conor Fitz to go with his tremendous work rate throughout . Fiacha Duffy was superb as well ..
Blesso 1-10 kiltegan 2pts
After a break between game 3 & 4 up next was an unbeaten St Pats team and we arguably produced are best performance of the day .. We dominated from the start and controlled the game throughout , Again this teams insane work rate and togetherness shone through .. Oisin Kelly was MOTM and his football brain was a joy to watch , when the chips were down Dylan callaghan stepped up with 4 of the 6 scores in this match
Blesso 6pts St Pats 1pts
Our last game was a local Derby against St Kevin’s , Both teams had picked up inj’s along the way and bodies were tired , Kevin’s started the better but after initial poor start these Blesso lads knew what was on the line and started to kick into gear, A first half goal from James Mc carney was a turning point and the performance of Oisin Quigley really stood out .. But Kevins wouldn’t lie down and kept pushing us all the time . The final nail in the coffin came when Rian keogh broke away and fed Callum Jordan Dempsey and he drove hard into the Kevins defence and produced an unbelievable finish to the top corner to seal the victory …
So that was it Blesso had done it and were crowned U15 A Feile champions for 2024 and incredible achievement.
County A Feile’s are not won easy and this was only Blessington’s 5th title in 28 years …..
So we are now Connacht bound at the end of June to represent our Club , County in the National feile.
Huge thanks to our Sponsor Monadnock Construction for their generous sponsorship , Fitting out the full squad & Coaches with new gear , It is really appreciated by everyone involved.
Thanks to Macari Blessington for their extremely generous donation of all the hotdogs and to Gary McCarney & Milis for the amazing muffins. A huge well done to Nessa for all the organising of the day. Thanks to Gillian, Audrey,Lorna & Lisa for looking after the tuck shop and to Paddy O’Donovan and Tommy O’Hagan for organizing the carpark.
As always Alan Bruce was on hand to take some fantastic pictures and we are all very grateful to Alan. Thanks also to our Chairperson Michelle for her continuing support and for helping out with the PA system.
To say the coaches are proud of this group would be an understatement , They give us everything week in and week out .. This is only the start for this fine group of young men winning big competions for Blessington Gaa club.
U15 A Feile champions
Squad
Ryan Sargent , Noah Tyrell , Alfie Mc Donald , Oisin Kelly , Calum Tyrell , Fiacha Duffy , Oisin Quigley , Conor Fitz , Callum Jordan Dempsey , Rian keogh , Luke Deniffe , Evan Quinlan , Kayden Mc Mahon , Dylan Callaghan , Aaron Cantwell , James Mc carney , Sam Byrne , Will o Connor , Brandon Ryan ,Jack Valintine , Sean Curran.
After the Feile competition we welcomed the group of lads from Rosscommon to take part in their massive fundraiser for a very personal cause and Motor Nurone Disease. The challenge was to take 32 kicks over the bar in 32 counties over a 32 hour time slot. They asked if Blessington would provide the pitch for the Wicklow leg and we were only too happy to oblige. Thanks to everyone who stayed around to cheer on the lads and made donations.
Senior men
The lads were at home on Friday evening against Bray Emmetts and had a terrific win. Final score Blessington 0-16 to Bray 0-10. Thanks to Martin Sargent and Brendan McGarr for umpiring. Next match is away to Avondale on Tuesday 21st May.
The lads will get together with the tidy towns team this coming Saturday 18th Mayfor a big town clean up. Everyone welcome to come along and help out.
Junior A
Junior A team welcomed Avoca on Sunday morning for their league fixture and were narrowly beaten. Finsl score Blessington 1-16 to Avoca 5-07. Hard luck lads.
Minors
The minors were away to Eire Og Greystones last Monday evening. Well done to the team and management on a great win. Final score Eire Og 4-05 to Blessington 4-20
U12 Kildare League
Tough day for the lads this evening.
Playing St Edward’s a group team from Kildare made up of 3 clubs . They were physically bigger team but we worked hard, and gave a good account of ourselves. On another night we could have got a result, we hit the cross bar and seen their goalie make multiple saves where on another night could have been goals.
One big positive was we kept a clean sheet, no goals where we made multiple blocks and a few goal line clearances because the lads put their bodies on the line when they needed to.
Final score 13 points to 4 .
U12 Kildare league Saturday evening
We travelled out to Sarsfield Newbridge.
Great evening for football, probably the warmest day of the year.
We travelled out with 14 with no subs so the lads were going to have to dig in. 1st half nothing between the teams. We were playing well and dominated the collisions. We conceded a couple of goals and we have 2 chances cleared of the line.
Half time score 2:03 to 5 points .
Second half and we conceded some soft goals early on. We were tired and they had 7/8 subs who were able to freshen things up. We slowly took hold of the half again and picked our scores. Overall we were the better team however we came away with the loss.
Final score 4:06 to 1:09.
The lads disappointed however as we told them , it’s perfect preparation for their first ever championship game on Monday vs Baltinglass.
Thanks to all parents for travelling out,
Thanks to both Cian and Tomas for stepping up from u11 . Bring on the championship.
U8’s
The U8s were welcomed to a sunny Raheens GAA for a great afternoon of Go Games in the NKL
We played mini matches v Raheens and Clane, with the lads displaying great teamwork, they did so well to cover every blade of grass on the pitches in the hot weather. The lads had a fantastic time and we would like to say a big thank you to Raheens for being brilliant hosts and to the lads and parents for travelling
Ladies Football
U16 Girls
Under 16 girls began their Div 3 League campaign tonight in Blesso against a very good An Tochar side.
The girls worked really really hard and it’s great to get the first game done. Few bits to work on but we expected that with the girls coming together. Even though the result didn’t go our way the girls were in good spirits and that was good to see.
Meabh Doyle was like a young one possessed in the game. A well deserved POTM from our captain for the night
A huge thanks to Amy Stynes for stepping up from our U14 girls to play in goal- she was brilliant. Well done girls, we’re all proud of ye as always. We go again at training next week.
G4Mothers
Blessington G4mothers hosted Baltinglass on Friday evening, our first match this year.. what a great evening of football and sunshine.Well done to Rachael, Aine and Paula on their first match and they played brilliant.. a big thank you to Kevin Gilmore for kindly reffing ..the mother’s had a well earned drink in Hennessy’s after wards..
We’re always looking for new people to join in, Training every Wednesday 7:30pm-8:30pm.
Healthy Club
Our club with thanks to the Healthy Club Team have been chosen to take part in a pilot scheme sponsored by the HSE and Sunsmart where we will provide information on keeping safe in the sun. We now have 2 sun scream dispensers with SPF 50 for everyone’s use all we ask is you scan the QR code that’s on the board and take part in a very short survey, this will provide feedback with the hope of these dispensers being provided to all clubs throughout the country. These dispensers are located at the clubhouse and at the Brew21 container.
It was great to see both dispensers getting used over the weekend with the beautiful weather that we had and the feedback from everyone was extremely positive. If you notice the dispensers are empty please notify any member of the executive committee so they can be replaced.
Positive mental health Blessington
A massive thank you to our speakers last night and thank you to those who showed up at the launch of our Safe Talk video.
Our next training day for Safe Talk will be held in Blessington GAA club house June 12th @ 9.30am -1pm. This training is for adults over 18years old.
If you would like to be suicide alert and have the tools to talk to anyone who may be suicidal please register for this training and be part of our Blessington champions.
https://bookwhen.com/dublinsouth-kildare-west-wicklow...
We extend sincere sympathies to several families suffering bereavements in the past week.
To Michelle and Darren Behan and family on the death of Michelle’s mother, Bridget (Bridie) Reilly, funeral Mass is on Tuesday next in Saggart .
To Paul Kavanagh and Noreen and family on the death of Paul’s father, James , funeral Mass was on Thursday in Kilternan .
To John and Ann Horan, Deerpark , on the death of John’s brother , Joseph , funeral Mass was on Thursday in Rathgar .
To Denise Geraghty and family , Russboro , on the death of Denise’s mother , Carmel Cahill , funeral Mass was on Thursday in Crosschapel.
To Stenson family on the death of their mother, Irene, funeral Mass was on Wednesday in Crosschapel , Irene’s late husband Richie was a big past supporter of the club .
To John Cullen, John was a footballer in his underage days with Wicklow and St Bridgets ( the then amalgamation of ourselves and Kilbride ) , on the death of his father , Dessie , funeral Mass was on Monday in Manor Kilbride.
You can keep up to date on all club related news across all social media and also with our Tik Tok account starting as soon as Craig finishes his thesis and summer exams. For all thing LGFA related you can contact Olivia on 086 030 8395 and for everything else football or club related you can contact myself Lisa on 086 376 7534 and pro.blessington.wicklow@gaa.ie