Wonderful win for Blessington
Blues too good for An Tochar
BLESSINGTON AN TOCHAR 2-10 3-03
BLESSINGTON’S under-15 footballers secured a precious championship crown last Sunday morning when they proved too strong for a gallant An Tochar team in the Under-15 ‘B’ football final.
Played in bitterly cold conditions in Laragh and with the odd shower here and there, this was an entertaining affair with plenty of fine football on show and some excellent scoring, with Blessington’s consistency and ability to take their points being one of the key factors in their win.
Both teams had fine footballers all over the field but it was the two numbers 13s that stood out at different stages in this game.
For Blessington, Lee Dowling-Horan had a tremendous game, harvesting five points (three frees) and having a hand in plenty of positive play for his side.
For the An Tochar men it was Darragh Fee who shone brightest with the corner-forward, who acted in a sweepers role in the first half, being awarded the Man of the Match award thanks to his game management skills and his creative ability that saw him play a major role in every score and every attack his side engineered on the day.
The 2-07 to 2-01 half-time score in favour of Blessington was a fair enough reflection on the opening half with their goals coming in a devastating three-minute period at 20 and 22 minutes and from the boots of Jon Kehoe and Robbie Richardson, both rockets of shots, Kehoe’s from distance and Rochardson’s from closer in.
It had been Blessington who had started the brighter with a point from Lee Dowling-Horan from a free. Cian Timmons was called into action in the An Tochar goal soon after and he showed he was very much up for the task with a fine save.
A fine necklace of passing from An Tochar ended with the ball being fed across to the impressive John Paul Nolan who rattled the back of the Blessington net for a major boost for the Roundwood men.
This was followed by a Jordan Brady point from a free and An Tochar led by 1-01 to 0-01 after six minutes.
But Blessington had plenty about them. In key positions they were big and strong and they began to exert major pressure on the An Tochar in the middle third and began profiting on the scoreboard as a result.
Points from Robbie Richardson, Jake O’Kelly off his left, Daniel Silke Fetherston, and Jamie Hamilton with two were followed by the two goals and Blessington were in complete control.
However, with 27 minutes on the clock, the Blues were dealt a blow when Jake O’Kelly picked up a black having already being shown a yellow by referee Darragh Byrne and he left the field of play.
An Tochar lifted their game and Niall Sheahan fired home a goal. Lee Dowling-Horan would have the last say with a pointed free and Blessington led by 2-07 to 2-01 at the break.
A fine start for An Tochar, engineering by Darragh Fee saw them reduce the deficit to 2-07 to 2-03 thanks to points by Jordan Brady and Sean Brady but that was to be as good as it got for the An Tochar men.
Blessington decided to try and deal with Darragh Fee’s infleunce on the game and they sent Conor O’Toole back to man mark him and he did so.
From here on in, An Tochar spurned a number of chances while Blessington tapped on three more points through Lee Dowling-Horan (one free) before Niall Sheahan fired home an absolute ripper of a goal at the death for An Tochar but it was too little too late as Blessington ran out deserving winners by 2-10 to 3-03.
Scorers – Blessington: Lee Dowling-Horan 0-05 (3f), Robbie Richardson 1-01, Jon Kehoe 1-00, Jamie Hamilton 0-02, Saniel Silke Fetherston 0-01, Jake O’Kelly 0-01.
An Tochar: Niall Sheahan 2-00, John Paul Nolan 1-00, Jordan Brady 0-02 (1f), Sean Brady 0-01.
Jack Sargent; Cillian Bailey, Oisin Brogan, Liam Phibbs; Jon Kehoe, Luke O’Brien, Thomas Fisher; Jake O’Kelly, Daniel Keogh; Daniel Cooney, Daniel Silke Fetherston, Jamie Hamilton; Lee Dowling-Horan, Conor O’Toole, Robbie Richardson. Subs: Niall O Gallchobhair for C Bailey (22min), Claude Tounou for L Phibbs (48min), Mikey O’Toole for R Richardson.
Cian Timmons; Ben Staunton, Andrew Nolan, Sean Brady; Bobby Brady, Luke Kenny, Reece Scott; Jordan Brady, Sean Leacy; Ciaran Murphy, John Paul Nolan, Kian Brady; Darragh Fee, Niall Sheahan, Matthew Nolan. Subs: Niall Byrne for JP Nolan (53min), Roan Hayes for L Kenny
Darragh Byrne (Bally-
manus)