A coming of age win for Colin Crehan saw him defeat fellow Clare man Diarmaid Nash 15-11, 2-15, 11-6 in last nights Dalata Group Irish 4-Wall Nationals Final in the Gort na Mona HC, Belfast. It was Crehan's first major Elite Singles title of his career, a win that has been showing potential for the past few years.
Both men prevailed in dramatic SF tiebreak wins over Peter Funchion (KK) and Charly Shanks (Armagh) respectively on Sunday morning. Nash's win in particular being eye catching given he trailed 10-2 before fighting back to win 11-10.
The final pairing was novel given both men are the reigning two time All-Ireland Senior Doubles Champions and know each others game so well. Kilkishen's Crehan took the first with some outrageous kill shots, but the astute Nash very effectively changed his game plan in the second, opting for a slower lob serve to nullify Crehan's attack. It worked as he ran out an easy 15-2 winner in the second.
But momentum swung again in the tiebreak when Crehan broke first and took a 6-2 lead that he never surrendered.
In the Elite Ladies grade, a very familiar winner rose to the top yet again as Catriona Casey (Cork) showed her class in defeating first time finalist Megan McCann (Armagh) 15-2, 15-0. Casey defeated local, and old rival Aisling Reilly in the SF, before McCann had her own mini break though win in her SF, defeating Fiona Tully 15-14, 15-14.
The Armagh lady couldn't get to grips with Casey's game in the Final however, the Ballydesmond native controlling the mid court and very efficiently picking off kills with both hands.
A host of other Adult & Masters Finals also took place across Belfast venues. Finals Scores and Full Results are available below.
Contact development.handball@gaa.ie for further media enquiries.
GAA Handball would like to express their thanks to our tournament sponsor the Dalata Group, and to our hosts Antrim Handball who contributed greatly to the overall success of this years Nationals. Full selection of photos available at www.inpho.ie, and match footage available on our Facebook page.
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Final Scorelines
- Elite Mens: Colin Crehan (Clare) dft Diarmaid Nash (Clare) 15-11, 2-15, 11-6
- Elite Ladies: Catriona Casey (Cork) dft Megan McCann (Arm) 15-2, 15-0
- Men’s A: Mark Doyle (Wex) dft Kevin Diggins (Kild) 15-14, 4-15, 11-3
- Men’s B: Chris Doyle (Wick) dft Cahir Munroe (Tyr) 15-5, 15-5
- Ladies B: Holly Hynes (Wex) dft Elizabeth McGarvey (Tyr) 15-7, 15-1
- Men’s C: Wayne Kinsella (Wick) dft Shane Birney (Wex)
- Men’s 35+: Jack O’Shea (Ker) dft Shane O’Neill (Tyr) 10-15, 15-14, 11-1
- Masters B: Fergal McWilliams (Wex) dft David Stanners (Wex) 15-14, 6-15, 11-6
- Silver Masters A: Niall Kerr (Tyr) W/O Paul Graham (Ant) inj.
- Golden Masters B: John Roche (Wex) dft Sean McGurn (Ant) 7-15, 15-5, 11-8
- Emerald Masters A: John Herilhy (Cork) dft Thomas Maguire (Ant)15-8, 14-15, 11-10
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