24 July 2007 Hat trick for Blessington Ladies Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! Blessington pull off a hat trick Senior Championship Blessington 1-9 Bray Emmets 0-8. Blessington pulled off their senior championship hat trick when they lifted the Joe Jacob cup for the third time in succession beating Bray Emmets in the senior championship final in Newtown on Sunday last. In what was a very tense and scrappy game at times, neither side played to their full potential, but it was the Blessington girls that were the more determined and composed in front of the posts, in particular Niamh Carroll who once again was in unstoppable form, notching up one goal and six points of Blessingtons total. Bray Emmets on the other hand will reflect on wrong options and missed opportunities, too many wides from scorable positions, and they were also guilty of going for goals when points would have kept them in contention. Both sides rattled the uprights within the first minute of the game, Sinead Boland for Bray and Niamh Carroll for Blessington, however Blessington number twelve Carroll was only focusing her sights, before firing over two points in the second minute to put her side in the driving seat. Mikaela Shelley opened Brays account in the fifth minute after good approach play from Eadoine Lenihan and Val Hughes, but each time they closed the gap, the girls from the west made another lodgement into their account to keep them in the black. Bray Emmets managed to pare Blessingtons lead back to just two points at the break with Sinead Boland, Val Hughes and Aisling O’hAannaidh adding one apiece, Brays experienced free taker O’hAnnaidh was also having trouble finding her range through out the game, missing a number of opportunities to reel in Blessington. Blessington twisted the knife further within thirty seconds of the restart, Bray Emmets failed to clear their lines and Niamh Carroll fired the ball past Brays Keeper Catherine Corbett to open a five point gap. In Fairness to Bray they never gave up the chase and within five minutes only Carrolls goal separated the sides, however the Bray side tried to cancel out Blessingtons lead with a single strike, and each time they went in search of that goal they were repeled by Blessingtons hard working back line of Jill Heatley, Linda Kavanagh, Marie Kavanagh, Stephanie Doyle and player of the match Breda Reid. Four points separated the sides going into the final quarter (1-7 to 0-6), Mikaela Shelley reduced the gap to three points and with only six minutes left on the clock Bray substitute Sarah McGraynor found herself facing an open goal, but the ball bobbled up as McGraynor went to strike, and her effort went over the bar. Blessingtons Emer Miley and Niamh Carroll combined to add two extra points to the Blessington score line and finish off Bray Emmets chances of stealing a victory on this occasion. Mary Jacob presented the Jacob cup to winning captain Marie Kavanagh, and Wicklow ladies chairperson Margaret Allen presented Breda Reid with the player of the game award. Blessington: Audry McDonald, Jill Heatley, Breda Reid, Linda Kavanagh, Steph Doyle, Marie Kavanagh Capt., Karen Walsh, Maura Reid, Julie Fitzmaurice, Orla Carroll (0-1), Emer Miley (0-1), Niamh Carroll (1-6), Mary Whelan, Jenny Foster (0-1), Grainne Ryan. Bray Emmets: Catherine Corbett, Caroline Bolger, Jennifer Ding, Khalie Medler, Lisa Brady, Aoife Heffernan(0-1), Sinead Finn, Laura Richardson, Aisling OhAnnaidh (0-2), Mikaela Shelley (0-2), Joy Russell, Val Hughes (0-1), Eadoine Lenihan, Ciara O’Hagan, Sinead Boland (0-1). Subs: Emer Daly for Khalie Medlar, Siobhan Egan for Aoife Heffernan, Megan Shelley for Joy Russell, Sarah McGraynor (0-1) for Ciara O’Hagan, Sheena Smith for Caroline Bolger. Referee: Pat Keogh. Share this Article 0 0