Molly and Gavin star for Ireland
SPORT AUSSIE RULES
BLESSINGTON GAA had two reasons to celebrate at the weekend as two of their former players, Gavin Murray and Molly Cullen, represented Ireland and won play-off finals in their respective Aussie Rules International Tournaments in Melbourne.
Molly Cullen was the pride of Blessington as the former Blessington and Wicklow ladies footballer claimed a brilliant victory with The Irish Banshees in the 2017 AFL International Women’s Cup.
Molly switched codes to Australian Rules upon her arrival down under and has gone from strength to strength in the sport, culminating in the victory against the Canadian Northern Lights on a 25-21 score line at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne on Saturday night (local time).
The tournament also included three victories in the pool stages and a memorable victory over the UK in the semi-finals so all in all it was a hugely successful campaign for Molly and the ladies.
In the final they trailed going into the fourth and final quarter but when Colleen Quinn collected a loose ball and hooked it through for a goal the game was won for the Irish. It is only the second time the Irish ladies have ever won the international cup.
Incredibly there was another Wicklow and Blessington star playing for the men’s side in International Cup. Gavin “Shrek” Murray was well known for fielding plenty of high balls in his days in the blue and white of Blessington so it’s no wonder he slotted in seamlessly to the oval ball game down under.
The Irish men’s side recorded victories over Papua New Guinea (who went on to win it), France and Great Britain in the group stages before narrowly losing 53-49 to finalists New Zealand to qualify for the third/fourth place play-off against USA.
Ireland put in a dominant display to record a big victory on a 48-16 score-line. Gavin turned in a brilliant individual performance and ended the match as Ireland’s second top point scorer on the day, kicking two field goals (each worth 6 points) to help Ireland to victory.
Blessington GAA would like to send on their congratulations to both players on their achievements and are very proud to have two great sporting icons attached to the club. May their success continue on into the future.