The cream of Irelands 60x30 Juveniles converged on two Connacht venues yesterday Sunday 1st November to battle it out for the 2015 Myclubshop.ie All Ireland finals in the softball code. Fourteen counties in all competed with Tipperary topping the medals table with 6 titles, closely followed by Kilkenny with 4 titles. Kildare took home 2 titles with Limerick, Tyrone and Wexford all taking 1 title back to their respective counties to complete a very successful day of Handball.
St. Comans hosted 8 games and the action begun with the Boys U14 Singles with local lad Dylan Hanley taking on Kilkenny’s Jack Holden. This proved to be a very tight game with little between both players but the Kilkenny lad came out on top 15-7, 15-13. Kilkenny also won the second match in the Boys U14 Doubles when Kyle Dunne/Billy ONeill defeated the much fancied Cork pair of Cian O’Driscoll/Sean Murphy. After a tight first game which Kilkenny won 15-9 they never relented in the second and took it 15-1.
In the Girls U16 Doubles Limerick’s Katie McCarthy/Catriona Millane were just too strong for the Kilkenny pair of Sorcha Delaney/Margaret Purcell. The same was the case in the Girls U14 Doubles when Tyrone’s Emer Kerr/Elizabeth McGarvey had a conformable win over Limerick’s Aisling Shanahan/Ciara McCarthy.
The final game of the day in St. Comans turned out to be the game of the day in the Girls U14 Singles with Kildare’s Leah Doyle against Galway’s Niamh Heffernan. The first game was very tight with little between both players but the Kildare lass just edged it 15-12. The second game was a different storey with Heffernan taking control and wining 15-9. This set up a mouth-watering tie break with some great handball being played but in the end Doyle claimed the title with a 15-6 tie break victory.
Ballymoe on the Roscommon/Galway border was the other venue where 7 games were down for decision. In the Boys U16 Doubles Tipperary’s James Prentice/Sean McAdams overcame the challenge of Wexford’s Liam Rossiter/Laurance Dunne over two tight games on a scoreline of 21-14, 21-12.
In the Girls U16 Singles final Tipperary’s Sinead Meagher capped off a terrific year by adding to her 40x20 U16 Singles title by claiming the 60x30 title as well. She played the much younger Mollie Dagg of Kildare in this terrific final. Both players were very skilful players with some great rallies throughout the match. In the end the Tipperary player won the match 21-2, 21-8.
In the Boys U16 Singles final it was last year’s runner up Jerome Cahill Tipperary against Louth’s Ben Devlin. Louth’s Devlin supported by the legendry Joey Maher raced into an early 12-3 lead with some good serving and kill shots before the Tipp lad clawed his way back and he eventually took the first 21-18. The second game was a nip and tuck affair before the experienced gained in last year’s agonizing 11-10 tie break defeat to spur Cahill on to that the title this year on a 21-18, 21-13 score line to the huge celebration of the Tip faithful.
Congratulations to all the players, parents, coaches, referees and sincere thanks to St. Coman’s and Ballymoe Handball Clubs for their hospitality on the day.
GAA Handball 60x30 All Ireland Juvenile Finals - Results
Sunday 1st November 2015
Ballymoe, Roscommon OIC John Kennedy
- GU15D Tipperary (Eleanor Percy/Katie Gould) dft Wexford (Lauren Flanagan/Leanne Boland) 15-3, 15-14
- BU16D Tipperary (James Prentice/Sean McAdams) dft Wexford (Anthony Butler/Patrick Boland) 21-4, 21-6
- BU17D Wexford (Liam Rossiter/Laurence Dunne) dftTipperary (Barry O’Meara/Dan Healy) 21-14, 21-12
- GU16S Tipperary (Sinead Meagher) dft Kildare (Mollie Dagg) 21-2, 21-8
- BU16S Tipperary (Jerome Cahill) dft Louth (Ben Devlin) 21-18, 21-13
- BU15D Tipperary (Daire Madden/Conor Burke) dft Laois (Eoghan Doheny/Padraic Dunne) 15-12, 15-8
- GU17S Tipperary (Sile Spain) dft Kilkenny (Catriona Lawlor) 21-4, 21-3
St. Coman’s, Roscommon OIC Aengus Cunningham
- BU14S Kilkenny (Jack Holden) dft Roscommon (Dylan Hanley) 15-7, 15-12
- BU14D Kilkenny(Kyle Dunne/Billy O’Neill) dft Cork (Cian O’Driscoll/Sean Murphy) 15-9, 15-1
- GU16D Limerick (Katie McCarthy/Catriona Millane) dft Kilkenny (Sorcha Delaney/Margaret Purcell) 21-2, 21-1
- GU14D Tyrone (Emer Kerr/Elizabeth McGarvey) dft Limerick (Aisling Shanahan/Ciara McCarthy) 15-0, 15-0
- BU15S Kilkenny (Eoin Brennan) dft Kerry (Dara Keane) 15-2, 15-7
- GU15S Kilkenny (Dearbhail O’Keeffe) dft Mayo (Cora Conlon) 15-5, 15-0
- BU17S Kildare (Kevin Diggins) dft Waterford (Charlie McDonagh) 21-19, 21-16
- GU14S Kildare(Leah Doyle) dft Galway (Niamh Heffernan) 15-12, 9-15, 15-6