Blessington put paid to dream beginning
at Lacken
kick-out, Eoin Higgins fielded a mark and sent in a sublime ball to Sean Mescall who raised another white flag to close out the opening quarter.
It was wave after wave of Blessington attacks as they upped the ante.
Stephen Carroll added a brace of points. Goalie Diarmuid Haughian pulled off two powerfull saves to keep the Blues from further increasing the lead.
A dashing run up the field by center-back Martin Donohoe and a fine point served to slow down the Blue onslaught.
Stephen Carroll then landed his third point for Blessington before Niall Donohoe, who was just about shoot on goal, was nailed with a crunching tackle by Stephen Byrne and the danger was cleared.
Sean Mescall closed out the scoring with a point to leave the half-time score Kilbride/Lacken 1-02 to 1-06 for Blessington.
Eddie Boylan added a brace of points before Peter O’Toole landed his second major off the game in the 36th minute.
Joint managers Lorcan Clarke and Paul Carroll introduced Mark O’Connell and Tom McKeown into the fray which added a lot more physicality to their side.
McKeown pointed before Tim Broe was fouled in the box.
Referee John Whyte pointed tothespot.
Up stepped Martin Donohoe, but the Kilbride man pulled his effort to the wrong side off the upright as a massive chance went abegging at this crucial stage of the battle.
Mark Keogh split the posts with a smashing point as the homeside found a bit of form to close out the third quarter with the score reading 1-04 to 2-08 in favour of the Blues.
Three more crucial points by Blessington increased the difference yet again.
The home side rallied well going into the final eight minutes and increased the pressure tenfold.
Tom McKeown knocked over another point before Timmy Broe raised a green flag to reduce the deficit.
It was backs to the wall at this stage for Blessington. Goalie John McEnroy saved two great shots as the home side went for the jugular but they ran out of time, as the full-time whistle sounded to send the Blues home with the bragging rights on this occassion.
Scorers - Kilbride/Lacken: Tim Broe 1-01, Matt Cripps 1-00, Tom McKeown 0-02, Martin Donohoe 0-01, Mark Keogh 0-01, David Balfe 0-01.
Blessington: Peter O’Connell 2-01, Eddie Boylan 0-04 (1f), Sean Mescall 0-02, Stephen Carroll 0-04, Kieran McGovern 0-01.
Diarmuid Haughian; Pat Donohoe, Eoin Cripps, Phillip Gallagher; Richard Ward, Martin Donohoe, Micheal Byrne; Finn Craul, Neill Donoghue; Tim Broe, Mark Keogh, Matt Cripps; John Nolan, Keith Mordaunt, William Creighton. Subs: Mark O’Connell, Tom McKeown, Larry O’Connor, David Balfe.
Kilbride/Lacken:
John McEnroy; Stephen Byrne, Bradley Foster, Declan Fennessy; Pat Nolan, Pat O Reilly, David Williamson; James Kearns, Eoin Higgins; Peter O’Connell, Ciaran Mescall, Kieran McGoveren; Stephen Carroll, Eddie Boylan, Séan Mescall. Subs: Etan Cotter, Cormac Brogan, Fionn Walsh, Daniel Sarkauskas, Ciaran Patton.
John Whyte (Donard-The
Blessington: Referee:
Glen)