Robbie McCarthy and Martina McMahon have both retained their Irish 4-Wall Nationals titles on Sunday in Aughagower HC, Mayo.
Martina was hot favourite, especially given her #1 rival over the last few years, Catriona Casey, was not in the draw. The Limerick woman comprehensively saw off Sinead Meagher 15-2, 15-3 in the SF, with 5 time Champion Aisling Reilly also cruising through, defeating teenager Mollie Dagg in two games.
In the Final, Martina wowed the crowd with her usual attacking play and long range shooting, but Reilly proved crafty and caused plenty of problems herself. A 15-6 opening game win for Martina left Reilly with an uphill battle, but she did fight back to hold a 10-6 lead in the second before succumbing 15-11.
In the Men's SF's, the return of Paul Brady was a big story leading into the weekend. But top seed Robbie McCarthy ended the fairy tale return with a 15-8 win, before Brady unfortunately had to retire with a shoulder injury during the interval.
The second SF was a humdinger between Martin Mulkerrins and Diarmaid Nash, something we come to expect when these two take to the court together. Moycullen man did however appear to just have the edge on the attacking play and saw out a tough 15-12, 15-13 win.
In the Final, McCarthy raced to an early 5-0 lead, but Mulkerrins buoyed by a vocal support fought his way back into the game, with scores tied at 6-6. McCarthy is a class act though and rose his game when needed, seeing out a 15-7, 15-8 win to draw level with four Irish 4-Wall Nationals titles on the all time list (with Tony Healy). The scoreline maybe doesn't reflect the competitiveness and quality of the match, with both stars producing spectacular Handball at times.
GAA Handball would like to thank all Mayo venues and volunteers for their tireless effort all weekend to e sure the tournament ran smoothly.
For full list of results see below.
Full Results (all grades)
Next up for the Seniors is the start of the 2020 O'Neills All-Ireland 4-Wall Championship, with two rounds scheduled for next Saturday and Sunday.
