By Paul Fitzpatrick
The 10th annual Cavan 40x20 handball championships were run off last week in Kingscourt, culminating in an action-packed weekend of top-class handball.
The star attraction was the Senior Singles grade, which attracted a nine-strong field and provided excellent early season training for the stronger local players.
After some exciting clashes in the early rounds – with former Cavan U21 footballer Padraig Cahill showing up particularly well - there was no surprise about the identity of the finalists, with Paul Brady and Michael Finnegan advancing to the decider.
Brady came through to win the title for the fourth year in succession after a good battle played before a decent crowd on Sunday afternoon.
Cormac McMahon, who has been in fine form of late, went one better than in 2015 when he took third place, seeing off Patrick Clerkin 21-8, 21-20 in the play-off.
Meanwhile, the Junior Singles crown went to St Pat’s for 2016 when 18-year-old Caolán Smith took the honours.
The win rounded off a very successful season for the Belturbet minor goalkeeper, who also won the Irish Nationals U17 B Singles and the Ulster Colleges U17 Singles title as well as partnering Stephen Smith – who missed out due to a hand injury this time round – to the Ulster Minor Doubles final, losing in the third game against eventual All-Ireland finalists Tyrone.
Caolán saw off clubmate Cathal Sheridan in the semi-final before beating Ballyhaise footballer Shane Briody – who was returning to action after a lay-off – 21-9, 21-9 in Sunday’s final.
Briody had beaten Redhills man Brian Reilly in his semi-final. Caolán now advances to senior level for next season’s championship.
At Junior B level, Vincent Mulvey went in as no 1 seed following his heroics in 2015, when he lost a fiercely-contested final against his Munterconnaught clubmate Peter McCabe.
Mulvey, who has done tremendous work in promoting the sport at Knocktemple NS where he is principal, saw off Paul Woods and young gun Diego Di Folco en route to the final. However, 16-year-old Conor Owens, this year’s Ulster U16 finalist who should go well at U17 Singles in the new year, had too much in the final and a fine display from the Kingscourt lad saw him take the title and move up to Junior A level for next year.
Conor was, in fact, celebrating double success as he also took the spoils in the U16 Singles for the second year in succession, defeating All-Ireland U15 Doubles finalist Di Folco in the final.
The U14 Singles produced the best final of the weekend, with Kingscourt’s Niall McMahon taking on St Pat’s player Daryl McGurren.
There was nothing between this duo, with Niall winning the first game 15-14 only for McGurren – who plays football with Drumlane – showing deft skill to snatch the second 15-13.
McMahon, also a talented footballer and soccer player, battled all the way in the tiebreaker but the steady, powerful McGurren came through 11-9 in a thriller. Both lads have potential to go well in the Ulster U15 Championship in the new year if they apply themselves to training.
Among those to impress in this division was St Pat’s player Peter Smith (Lavey), who had a tremendous battle with the talented Munterconnaught prospect Caolin Hughes in the quarter-final.
The U12 grade attracted a 19-strong field and featured some fantastic games. This year’s renewal was undoubtedly the best standard since the championships were re-organised some years ago, with the great work of coaches Peadar Quealy (Virginia) and Fr John Gilhooly (Mullagh) coming to fruition.
In the end, though, the title went to local player Oisin Byrne, who retained the crown with some excellent displays which have marked him out as a player to watch for the future.
Oisin defeated Virginia’s Oliver McCrystal in the final, with Mullagh’s Niall McGee and Virginia’s Matthew Smith also showing up very well. With the development squads throwing in again in the near future ahead of the 2017 Ulster Championships, hopes are high that Cavan’s record at juvenile level will continue to improve.
Thanks are due to host club Kingscourt for facilitating the event and also to all who helped out with refereeing and organising matches over the weekend.
The next tournament on the local calendar will be the annual St Pat’s One Wall ‘turkey shoot’ on December 23.
Photo: Official Cormac McMahon with U12 champion Oisin Byrne (Kingscourt) and runner-up Oliver McCrystal (Virginia)