The Liscarroll club in north Cork is really booming at present, with quality players in most grades and high participation rates, writes Paul Fitzpatrick.
The star performers, though, are clear – Michael Hedigan and Daniel Relihan have established themselves as two of the leading handballers in the game at present, particularly in doubles.
The Rebels are a formidable partnership; Hedigan, tall and rangy, is very hard to pass on the right while Relihan’s smooth shot-making is a major asset.
The duo put a huge emphasis on doubles and, since they first started playing as juveniles, they’ve always had the goal of one day winning an All-Ireland 4-Wall Senior Doubles title.
Last year, they made the final for the first time but came up short against Diarmaid Nash and Colin Crehan.
This time around, they set out their stall from the outset – the goal was to make it back to Croker and try to go one better.
“From the start of the year every year, myself and Daniel always concentrate on the doubles because we enjoy playing doubles and we are very competitive in doubles,” Hedigan explained.
“We always wanted to win a 40x20 Senior Doubles.
“We play all the singles tournaments just to get us back into the rhythm of playing handball and whatnot but it’s always the doubles we’re going for. We’d love to win a Senior Doubles in the 40x20, that’s been our aim since a young age.”
While competing on the singles circuit keeps their eye in – and, indeed, both men have been very competitive in tournaments and championship handball – doubles is where it’s at for the Liscarroll duo.
They tailor their training towards doubles, Michael explained, and get a lot of practice games in.
“We play a lot of challenge matches against different opposition, it doesn’t matter what level it is because there is always something we could get confused with, even a 50-50 ball, in different games something different always happens so we’re always talking and learning.
“We do play a lot of doubles in fairness, there are a lot of teams to play challenge matches against in Munster and especially in Cork.”
The new National Handball Centre has really given handball a lift in general and Hedigan is a big fan of the facilities.
The name recognition of Croke Park, he says, adds to the credibility of the sport while it’s very nice to play in the show court, too.
“I really love going up to Dublin to play. The show court is immaculate, it’s one of the best courts I’ve ever played in. You get confused the odd time in the back corners with the glass but that’s the same for everyone so you can’t complain about it to be honest.
“Usually, if we are anywhere and talking to strangers and tell them we are playing in Croke Park at the weekend, they’ll look at you twice and say ‘oh, Croke Park’ so that’s a big bonus from it.
“Croke Park is so recognisable. A lot of our friends are willing to make the journey to Croke Park because the facilities are fantastic and it’s all under the one roof.
“There’s always a great buzz around there, it’s like Kingscourt back in its day.”
Clare will provide a stern challenge, befitting three-time champions, and the Corkmen are expecting a very tough encounter.
“A lot of it is on the day to be honest, I think Clare will be feeling the same. We just have to play our best really and if we do that, hopefully we might win but we know we will get nothing easy because the two boys are very good.”
There is a bumper programme of finals this weekend in all Adult and Masters grades. The oneills.com Men's and Ladies Minor and Senior Doubles and the Masters A Doubles will be streamed live on Sport TG4 YouTube page from 12 noon on Saturday.
View fixtures here.