The 2015 O'Neills 40x20 Championship semi finals largely went according to form on Saturday in Kingscourt until Armagh's Charly Shanks ripped up the form guide to shock last year's finalist Diarmaid Nash and book his place in the final for the first time since 2011.
Having lost finals in 2010 and 2011 to Cavan's Paul Brady, injuries and a move to the US meant Shanks had not appeared in the Blue Riband event of the 40x20 season since but on Saturday evening in Kingscourt he announced his return to the big time with an impressive 21-11, 21-17 win over Clare's Nash, last year's finalist and #2 in the Irish rankings.
First up at the Cavan venue were the Ladies semi finals and there were to be no shocks here as the #1 and #2 seeds Antrim's Aisling Reilly and Cork's Catriona Casey comfortably booked their spots in the Ladies Singles final by virtue of wins over Limerick's Martina McMahon and Kerry's Maria Daly respectively. Casey was once more in imperious form as she defeated her Munster rival Daly 21-1, 21-7 to book her place in the final where she will bid to win back the title she lost to Antrim's Reilly last year. Reigning champion Reilly was in equally as devastating form as she accounted for up and coming Limerick starlet Martina McMahon on a 21-6, 21-4 scoreline to book her place in the decider on March 21st where she will look to win her second title following her maiden win last year. There is added spice to the occasion with the prize on offer of a trip to the World Championships as the Irish Team Female Captain for the victor.
Next up was reigning mens champion Robbie McCarthy from Westmeath who was taking on Meath's Brian Carroll for a spot in the final. Carroll had looked in impressive form in his Quarter Final defeat of Mayo's Joe McCann however McCarthy continued the trend of the day by accounting for the Meath man in comfortable fashion winning out on a 21-6, 21-7 scoreline to book his place in the decider. McCarthy was in devastating form throughout and Caroll had simply no answer for the Mullingar man.
And so it was left to Nash and Shanks to decide the final spot in this year's final line up. In the first game Shanks' power play had Nash in trouble and he raced to a 15-4 lead. Despite a brief rally from Nash the Armagh man closed out the first 21-11 and an upset was on the cards. The second was a much tighter affair with the scores tied on numerous occasions as Nash began to find his form and it appeared that the game would be heading for a tiebreaker as the Clare man took a 17-15 lead. Shanks however dug deep and tied at 17-17 and when he took the lead he never looked back closing the game out 21-17 to a mighty roar showing just what it meant to reach the final once more. Nash never hit the form he is capable of during the game but Shanks was ruthless when he got the chance.
And so the 2014 champion McCarthy will face the two time finalist Shanks on March 21st with not just the All Ireland at stake but also the opportunity to lead Team Ireland as Male Captain at the 2015 World Championships. It promises to be a cracking affair with the Minor Boy's Singles between Mayo's Niall Joyce and Tyrone's Sean Kerr beginning the proceedings followed by the Ladies Senior Singles Final and Mens Senior Singles Final.
Tickets go on sale on Monday from the GAA Handball office for what promises to be a cracking programme of games. Tickets cost €20 each. Contact the office on 01-8192385 for further information.