We did warn everyone that this was a game not to be missed.....and our word prevailed! It is utterly unthinkable for a rivalry in any other sport in the world to continuously repeat encounters of epic proportions at every opportunity, but when Cavan's Paul Brady & Michael Finnegan meet Meath's Brian Carroll & Tom Sheridan, you know you can expect fireworks.
Last years final was a 21-19 tiebreak win for Cavan. This years final was a 2-1 win for Meath. Strange scoreline, yes....but lets go back to the start first.
The Cavan men entered as favourites given their form, added to the fact they were the reigning champions of ten times in all. And after racing to a 15-3 first game lead, we all thought we would be heading home within the hour such was the dominance of their play. Brady was playing like a machine. His athleticism, power and accuracy a joy to watch and he looked every bit the best player the game has ever seen, a title most in world Handball regard him as being. Finnegan was controlling the right side with conviction, lifting balls in the front court, and flattening balls when given the opportunity.
But then the comeback started, and it gained real momentum when possibly the rally of the match saw Sheridan, on the floor at the time, react to a kill shot and somehow managed to drop a deft right corner kill. Queue the now almost traditional Sheridan shuffle as the enigmatic Kells man played to the crowd with a gun toting salute which got the crown buzzing. Game on! 16-10.
Cavan settled and held a 20-17 lead and two serves to see out the game. One side out....another side out....Meath get back in at 17-20. Surely they couldn't comeback and steal this game. Well that they did, with an uncharacteristic hand error from Brady sealing the game after a long last rally. 21-20.
At 11-7 in the second, Cavan looked in a bit of trouble. Meath looked comfortable with Brian's retrieving and re-killing is mightily impressive.
But a run of 7 unanswered points, helped hugely by a series of divine corner kills from Brady turned the game on its head. 14-11 Cavan.
Scores were then level at 14, 15, and 19. This was epic stuff!
Finnegan flat kills from the back wall. 20-19 Cavan. Brady goes to seal the win but misses a kill by millimetres. Meath have two serves to win it. They fail to take either. With Cavan serving for the game, a long rally pursues before Brady held his nerve to kill in the left corner. 21-19. Tiebreak time!
Five minutes for everyone to grab their breath!
At 1-1 in the tiebreak, Brady feels a twinge in his right quad. At 2-1 he takes an injury timeout. This doesn't look good. 15 minutes pass and the Cavan men come back into the court. Great, game on!
But no, Brady is unable to continue playing and comes back on court only to congratulate the Meath men on their win.
Not the end anyone wants, none more so than Tom & Brian. Not the end a game of this quality deserves.
But Meath are champions. And no one can question their credentials. They gave their all.
It means they hold all three Senior All-Ireland Doubles titles at the same time; 40x20, 60x30 & Hardball. They are great champions! It seals Tom's 10th title, and Brian first senior title in 40x20.
O'Neill's GAA Handball All-Ireland 40x20 Senior Doubles Final 2015:
Result: Meath (Brian Carroll & Tom Sheridan) dft Cavan (Paul Brady & Michael Finnegan) 21-20, 19-21, 2-1 Cavan ret inj