If ever there was proof needed to highlight the incredibly high standard of Irish Juvenile Handball, then last weekend Junior Nationals in Galway was that proof!
Sunday in Moycullen saw the climax to the key grades, and the young stars thrilled the full house with some awesome contests.Hometown favourite Diarmuid Mulkerrins upset Tyrone's Sean Kerr in a brilliant 19&U Final, in what was a repeat of last years 17&U Final which Kerr won in two straight. This time round Mulkerrins gained revenge with an 11-5 tiebreak win after earlier prevailing in a thrilling SF tiebreak win over Cork's David Walsh. In the Girls 19&U Final, Tyrone's Eilise McCrory pushed top seed Fiona Tully (Roscommon) all the way but fell shot as the stylish Tully claimed the honours 15-12, 15-10.
In the B17&U Final, Kilkenny's Eoin Brennan shows continuous signs of improvement as he defeated Cork's Cian O'Driscoll 15-9, 15-9, while in the G17&U Final, Armagh's Minor All-Ireland Champion Megan McCann defeated Kilkenny's Mary Ellen Phelan. That was after Phelan impressively took out Clare's Caitriona Millane in Saturday nights SF, and McCann came back from the death to defeat Kildare's Leah Doyle 11-8 in a great contest between two top quality players.
Wexford's Josh Kavanagh reversed his recent All-Ireland Final loss to Tyrone's Lorcan McBride with an eye catching two game win in the B15&U Final, whilst in the G15&U Final, Galway's Niamh Heffernan came from 10-7 down in the tiebreak to snatch victory at the death from Kildare's Mollie Dagg in an absorbing contest.
In the B13&U Final, it was another win for Wexford as Mark Doyle proved too powerful for Kilkenny's very gifted young star Kyle Jordan, with Tyrone's Clodagh Munroe also revenging her recent All-Ireland Final loss to Mayo's Hazel Finn.
In all it was another brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable weekend and GAA Handball would like to give special thanks to the Galway Handball Board for doing a top notch job in hosting for the second year running. 12 venues were used over the course of the weekend, with a vast array of venue officials, referees, and volunteers dedicated to the cause, which can often go unnoticed.
2017 GAA Handball Irish Junior Nationals - Finals Results
(Pictures to follow)
Girls Main Results
- G13&U Clodagh Munroe (Tyr) dft Hazel Finn (May) 15-10, 15-12
- G13&UB Jodie Keeling (Wex) dft Amy McKeogh (Tip) 15-12, 15-13
- G15&U Niamh Hefferan (Gal) dft Mollie Dagg (Kild) 15-8, 13-15, 11-10
- G15&UB Louise McGinnity (Mon) dft Sarah O’Malley (Cor) 15-4, 15-3
- G17&U Megan McCann (Arm) dft Mary Ellen Phelan (Kilk) 15-2, 15-0
- G17&UB Aoife Hurley (Cor) dft Kelly Curran (Gal) 15-5, 15-9
- G19&U Fiona Tully (Ros) dft Eilise McCrory (Tyr) 15-12, 15-10
Boys Main Results
- B13&U Mark Doyle (Wex) dft Kyle Jordan (Kilk) 15-3, 15-8
- B13&UB John Doheny (Kilk) dft Kaelan Murphy (Cor) 15-9, 13-15, 11-5
- B15&U Josh Kavanagh (Wex) dft Lorcan McBride (Tyr) 15-11, 15-11
- B15&UB Colin Healy (Cor) dft Labhras Hession (Gal) 15-5, 15-1
- B17&U Eoin Brennan (Kilk) dft Cian O’Driscoll (Cor) 15-9, 15-9
- B17&UB Conor Ownes (Cav) dft Adam Crosbie (Cav) 15-8, 15-10
- B19&U Diarmuid Mulkerrins (Gal) dft Sean Kerr (Tyr) 5-15, 15-12, 11-5
Girls (Plate) Results
- G13&U Skylyn O’Malley (Gal) dft Ellen Casey (Clar) 15-9
- G13&UB Ceiline Kelleher (Cor) dft Caoimhe McGlynn (Don) 15-6
- G15&U Cuileann Bourke (May) dft Noelle Dowling (Kilk) 15-14
- G15&UB Bróna Ni Cheallacháin (Gal) dft Nicole Sweeney (Gal) 15-2
- G17&U Cora Doyle (Wex) dft Aoife Floyd (Cla) 15-4
- G17&UB Marie Greaney (Gal) dft Aoibhinn Fox (Gal) 15-10
- G19&U Clodagh Nash (Cla) dft Ashling Ni Mhaolain (Gal)
Boys (Plate) Results
- B13&U Tiernan Slattery (Cla) dft Darragh Keogh (Cla) 15-5
- B13&UB Cathal Ducey (Cor) dft Darragh Bowen (Cor) 15-10
- B15&U Justas Dambinskas (Mon) dft Darragh Ducey (Cor) 15-1
- B15&UB Alan Masterson (May) dft Sean Barron (Kilk) 15-0
- B17&U Konrad Kowal (Mon) dft Niall Delaney (Cor) 15-9
- B17&UB Brooklyn Hickey (Cor) dft Cillian O’Reilly (Cav) 15-3
- B19&U Oisin O’Culáin (Gal) dft James Dempsey (Gal) 15-3