Goals sink Blessington

BALTINGLASS 3-13 BLESSINGTON 1-14

BALTINGLASS scored their goal chances, Blessington didn’t.

Summing up the Division 1 league game in as few a word as those is exactly how the points stayed at home here.

Not much separated the teams over the hour in a good competitive game.

Both teams lost key players during the game with injuries with some of them looking like they could fall in to the long-term bracket.

Not good news with championship only a matter of weeks away.

Adam McHugh opened the scoring for Baltinglass and Jason Kennedy added a second soon after. Mick Nugent and the dangerous Patrick O’Connor were keeping Blessington in touch with points.

Sean O’Brien was soon to strike for the first of his two goals after finding himself in acres of room behind a sleeping Blessington backline.

He finished coolly giving Stephen Kitt no chance to save. Chris Heaslip who was a constant torment to Blessington then hit his own purple patch and kicked 1-2 in a six-minute spell between the 18th-24th minute to give Baltinglass a commanding 2-4 to 0-3 lead. Kevin John Rogers kicked a couple of scores and also had a few wayward efforts before Mikey O’Connor was brave to get the crucial touch to a bouncing ball in the 27th minute to throw Blessington a lifeline.

He was flattened by the onrushing Mark Jackson and Baltinglass corner back Aaron Barrett also felt the full force of the goalkeeper as he sought to protect his goal.

Jackson finished out the first half scoring with a long range free but O’Connor’s goal and a Curtis Geraghty point had Blessington right back in the game, 2-5 to 1-6 at the break.

Eoin Keogh had entered the action in the first half as a substitute and his impact on the game wrestled back some of the control Baltinglass had been enjoying in the early stages where Kevin Murphy and Jason Kennedy were dominant.

Heaslip opened the second half scoring with a point before Henry Sinnott and Jackson again from a 45 added a couple more.

Patrick O’Connor kicked a brace and also missed a decent goal chance after slicing through the Baltinglass backline as Blessington tried to get themselves back in the game.

They were to suffer a major blow as Sean O’Brien fisted his second goal of the night to leave Baltinglass leading 3-8 to 1-8 in the 44th minute.

Mick McLoughlin left the action soon after with a leg injury and Baltinglass also lost both their starting midfielders and John McGrath to injury.

Kevin Hanlon who had a fine game at wing back for Blessington kicked a point and Eoin Keogh had two fine scores of his own as they closed the gap to three points again.

Another Mark Jackson free from way out the field was added to by Adam McHugh as Blessington missed another goal chance at the other end.

Hanlon and O’Brien exchanged points as Baltinglass held out with the scoring burst in the middle of the first half the gap Blessington just couldn’t close.

Baltinglass: Mark Jackson (0-3, 1f 2 45’s), Tommy Murphy, John Murray, Aaron Barrett; Pat Burke, Billy Cullen, Tom Burke; Kevin Murphy, Jason Kennedy (0-1); Conor Keogh, Adam McHugh (0-3, 1f), Stephen Heaslip; Chris Heaslip (1-3), Sean O’Brien (2-1), John McGrath. Subs: Henry Sinnott (0-2) for McGrath, Peter Dowling for S Heaslip, Cian Lee for Kennedy, Brian Lord for McHugh, Michael Dowling for K Murphy, Alan Nolan for Barrett.

Blessington: Stephen Kitt, Barry Murphy, Jack Gilligan, Stephen Bohan; Kevin Hanlon (0-2), Mick McLoughlin, Barry Finan; KJ Rogers (0-2), Peter Manning; Darragh Ryan, Patrick O’Connor (0-5), Brian Carroll, Curtis Geraghty (0-1), Michael Nugent (0-1), Mikey O’Connor (1-1). Subs: Eoin Keogh (0-2) for Nugent, Caolán McGorman for Bohan (BC), Jordan Nolan for Manning, Conor Ryan for McLoughlin.

Referee: Kieron Kenny