Club Notes 21/04/2024

Good evening. It was so nice to see the shining for the weekend; It was great to see all the activity up at the pitch. 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 will have sun scream dispensers at the pitches for everyone’s use and these will be in place in the next week or so.

Referees

There is a huge shortage of referees in county Wicklow and the ask is on for people to step up and train to become a referee. This includes juvenile all the way up to senior. Full training will be provided and if this is something that you would be interested in please contact us and we will point you in the right direction.

With there being such a shortage of referee’s matches may not go ahead which would be very disappointing. We also ask that All teams and management show their respect to the match officials at all times.

Junior A

A nice win for Blessington at home v An Tochar on Sun 21 April. 1-11 to 1-09.

Scorers - Mikey OToole 1-5 ( 2 frees ) ,Brian Richardson 0-3,Pauric Quinn 0-1,Cillian Bailey 0-1 ,Thomas Mossy Walshe 0-1

Juvenile Boys

U15 Boys

U15 Div 1 vs St Nicks

Blessington travelled to Dunlavin in Game 2 of the league. It was a very wet night and heavy pitch and the lads battled hard for 60 mins against a tough St Nicks team. We played well in patches but again loads to work on over the next few weeks. The team & coaches would like wish James mc Carney best wish’s after he picked up a nasty injury.

Final score

Blesso 4-11

St Nicks 1-5

U12

U12 Kildare league , we made the long drive to Athy on Friday evening. After a long week we started the game slow conceding goals early . It took the lads 20 mins to get into the game. With a lot of damage already done. We slowly came back into the game just before half time.

Half time score 7:05 to 2:02.

With the lads coming off at half time disappointed they had 2 options, either down tools or get stuck in. We started second half playing the way we know we can, getting stuck in. Winning the dirty ball and driving forward as a team. We outscored them in second half ensuring the lads could hold their heads high. Still lots to work on but lads did themselves proud.

Final score 8:10 to 4:06.

Thanks to all the parents who travelled.

Thanks to Tomas and Ewan for stepping up from the u11.

As a treat we stopped off on the way home for some refreshments

U13 Spring League

Blessington travelled out to Eire Og Greystones .

After the long drive, one would be worried we wouldn’t start strong. This team continues to produce the goods. Playing against a strong wind, we dominated, attack followed by attack continuously ensuring Eire Og were under pressure from the start. When Eire Og did break through we quickly cleaned up loose ball and transitioned to the ball up the field taking the scores. Second half started with the wind behind us and we kept the pressure on for the entire half, taking the win. Well done to everyone. Thanks to all who travelled out.

Next up big game Friday night away to Athy.

U10

Well done to our u10s who put in another solid performance against a dogged Two Mile House side last weekend. Some impressive pick ups under pressure as well as a fantastic work rate from all caught the eye. Great to see them working for each other & coming off the pitch with plenty of smiles & red cheeks. Well done lads ! Easy job for the coaches today Super to have Sean Og back for his 1st match today & thanks to Jack for helping us out when numbers were short.

U8 Boys

We welcomed Eadestown GAA for a friendly match this evening, with a lovely change in weather up in the pitches .A great challenge on both sides, with lads getting chances to practice in all areas of the pitch. Thanks to Eadestown for travelling and to all for the support on the sidelines.

U7 Boys

U7’s Travelled to Ballymore in the Kildare league , Super performance’s from everyone on a lovely sunny Saturday morning.

Well done to all the boys who took part in the Cuman na mBunscoil blitz today in Hollywood Gaa pitches. 12 teams took part with Blessington players represented on the Lacken, St Mary’s and Gaelscoil na Lochanna teams. They were all a credit to their families, schools and club.

Congrats to our own Eoghan.

Who won the County Cumann naBunscol in Ballinakill earlier in the week. He’ll get to play in Croke park at halftime in one of the championship match’s later this year

Juvenile Girls

U14  Girls Blue

Our u14 blue team had a match this morning against Eire Òg at home. We played against the wind in the first half. Emily Behan scored a powerful goal from close range to get us off the mark. Thea Smith racked up some points from free kicks to keep us ahead. Eire Og pulled back with a goal and 2 points to level it up, Thea and Caitlin popped over a few points to get us ahead again, then Eire og slotted 2 goals to go ahead. Lucy and Grace then put away 2 goals just before half time to put us ahead 3-6 to 3-5. The start of the second half blessington had the wind at their backs but eire og struck first with a goal and a point. 2 goals from Lucy and a goal from Mollie and frees from Thea put us back in front. The forwards put alot of pressure on the kickouts which paid off and put points on the board. The end result was Blessington 6-14 Eire Òg 6-6. A great result from the girls who battled hard throughout the match. POTM goes to Thea Smith for her brilliant free taking and general hard work.

U14 White

Another super performance for the U14G White team v AGB this afternoon.

We played against the wind in the 1st half and still managed to lead by a point at half time.

The girls really shifted up a gear playing with the wind in the 2nd half. Some great team play with plenty of support play for each other and getting the basics right, which is what we’re practicing at training. Final score 9-6 to 1-10 with POTM going to Amelia who worked her socks off and was rewarded with some great scores.

Once again very proud coaches.

U14 Pink

The U14G pink team had a tough match last night after a trek down to Rathnew.

Rathnew scored a few goals in quick succession in the first half which would be enough to deflate most teams, but not these battlers!

They came out after half time with their heads high led by captain Hollie Phibbs and fought hard proving to be the better team in the 2nd half but it wasn’t enough in the end unfortunately.

They learned a lot from that match against an opposition that should probably be in a different division and the coaches are very proud with how they never gave up and kept fighting till the very end.

POTM is Emma KH whose fitness showed as she never stopped battling for the whole match.

Gaeilge agus Cultúir.

Míle buíochas ó Fondúireacht Sheosaimh Mhic Dhonncha as the club received a grant of €190.  This will pay for a 6 weeks 'Introduction to Irish course' which will start on Wed 17 Apr in the clubhouse 8pm - 9pm. This is FREE to attend to members and Blessington community. The focus will be in 'Conversation Irish'. If anyone is interested in attending, please text/WhatsApp Noreen on 0872859375. There are just a few Spares available and they will be offered on a first come, first served basis.

The club will host a couple of pop up Gaeltachts at Kaleidoscope this year as well as some high-profile games at the pitch.

The club hosted a very successful Scór Sinsir County Final in Kevin's Hall on 22 March and Asia O'Riordan (Amhránaiocht Aonair- solo singing and Sheila Naughton (Aistriseoreacht  - Recitation) won a county medal. Sheila and Asia represented Blessington GAA and Wicklow GAA in Oulart, Co Wexford on Sat 6 Apr in the Leinster semi- finals. Asia was in a tough category and, unfortunately,  didn't progress. This was her first time to compete in Scór Sinsir and we have no doubt in her ability to progress in the future.  Sheila progressed to the Leinster provincial Final in The Downs, Co Westmeath on Sun 21 Apr.

Our Tráth na gCeist county 4 time winners - Pat Brennan,  Pat Molloy,  Tommy O'Donnell and Declan Reape will represent the club and county in Mullingar on Sat 20 April.  Ádh mór oraibh go léir.

Asia O'Riordan was invited to sing the national anthem at the minor match in Aughrim on Sat 13 Apr.

32,32,32 challenge

A group of five friends aged 22/23, Brian Kelly, Eoghan Diffley, Emmet Burke, Ciaran McManus, and Conor Murphy, have embarked on an ambitious challenge. Their goal is to kick points in all 32 counties of Ireland, visiting a different club pitch in each county. The group of young men, including four members from the St Barrys GAA club (Eoghan, Emmet, Ciaran, and Conor), along with Brian Kelly from the Newtown Cashel club in Longford, have decided to take on a challenge to support Conor's mother, Nicola. Nicola has recently received a diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease, and the 5 young men are determined to raise funds for her.

Blessington GAA club has been chosen as the Wicklow club to host this challenge. The lads will arrive on Saturday 11th May at approx. 1-15pm and we would love to see as many people as possible turn up and support the lads. More details closer to the date.

Condolences

Our sympathies this week to the Flanagan family , in particular to Teresa and Sharon ,  on the sad passing of Babs Flanagan ( Mearns ) . It’s the end of an era , we will all miss Babs indominable spirit and availability to help at the drop of a hat , and a cheerful outlook to cheer us all .

Babs celebrated her 104 birthday in Naas hospital with family and friends on Sunday 7 April . Babs was born locally at Dillonstown and subsequently lived at the Kilteel Road and stayed at  Oak Drive with brother Jack .

The Flanagan family were a big part of the club last century , where Babs’s brothers Barney and Tom were key players . They both played for the club and the amalgam of Blessington and Kilbride known as Liffey Rovers , that was back in the thirties . In the following years Tom and brother Christy were stalwart supporters of the Blues . Babs maintained a keen interest in GAA and a club jersey was part of the Mass gifts at Crosschapel on Thursday last .

Rest in peace, Babs .

You can keep up to date on all club related news across all social media and also with our Tik Tok account starting soon.  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