Molly and Gavin get party they deserve!
BLESSINGTON GAA produced the welcome homes of all welcome homes for their international stars Molly Cullen and Gavin Murray last week.
The thriving GAA club, through the hard work of Jess Brennan and many others, came together to plan the surprise homecoming party and the reaction from the community was incredible.
Molly 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 helped her team to victory against the Canadian Northern Lights on a 25-21 score line at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.
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.
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 as he played for the men’s side in International Cup.
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 six points) to help Ireland to victory.
Both Molly and Gavin were blown away by the welcome home and the celebrations continued well into the evening with memories made for a lifetime.