With the 60 x 30 season in its last couple of weeks the Wexford 40 x 20 Winter league is now underway in its second week and there has been a host of games played out over 17 divisions with six different counties backing up players in the tournament namely, Wexford, Kildare, Kilkenny, Carlow, Laois and Wicklow.
Last week in the premier division Patrick Funchion from Kells in Kilkenny got his first win as he beat Keith Kavanagh from Coolboy.
Ciaran Neary from Talbot’s Inch grabbed his opening win in Division one as he got the better of Chris Doyle from Coolboy.
Moving into division two Peter McGrath (Coolgreany) got the win over Barry McWilliams from Horeswood, while Ollie Ryan from Garryhill was successful in beating James Gregan from Coolboy.
Tomas Lennon from Monavea won the only game in Division 3 beating Kevin Barrett from Tinryland.
Five different players tasted success in division four with Andrew Dowling (Monavea), Robert Byrne (Bridgetown), Martin Clancy (Tinryland), John Roche (Castlebridge) and Sean Stanners (Piercestown) all finding the winning groove.
Ricky Barron (Barntown) tops division five after his second win of the group over Justin Heffernan from Oulart, while Eamon Rice also grabbed a win in this division beating Pat Doyle from Coolboy.
In division six Richie Culleton (St Joseph’s) got over the challenge of Dinny Lyndon from Oulart , and Lyndon was also beaten by Eamon Purcell from Windgap.
The four winners in division 7 were Bryan Kehoe (Castlebridge), Seamus Sinnott (St Martin’s), Paddy Cheevers (Horeswood) and Robert Doyle (St Joseph’s).
In division eight the opening run of games saw Declan Jordan (Coolboy), Sonny Sheil (Ballyhogue) and Kevin Cowman from Templeudigan secure wins , while division 9 had winners from Wexford, Kilkenny and Carlow as John Murphy (Kilmyshall), Jimmy Neary (Talbot’s Inch) and Kevin Rossiter from Garryhill.
Results from Division 11 to Division 15
D11 Eoin Redmond (Kilmyshall) beat Eamon Bowe (Davidstown)
D11 Gavin Goggins (St. Mary’s) beat Richard Ryan (Horeswood)
D11 PJ Lacey (St. Josephs) beat Paul Tracey (Arklow)
D12 Miley Byrne (Ballymitty) beat Tom Dempsey (Ballyhogue)
D12 Andrew Corish (Horeswood) beat Jason Byrne (Ballymitty)
D12 Sean Doyle (Arklow) beat Brian Busher (Bridgetown)
D12 Joe Stafford (Arklow) beat James Kelly (Templeudigan)
D13 Jack Roche (Bridgetown) beat Jody Shaughnessy (Coolgreany)
D13 James Stanners (St. Martins) beat Geoffrey Atkinson (Tinryland)
D13 Jimmy Dunne (Kilmyshall) beat Geoffrey Atkinson (Tinryland)
D13 Barry Byrne (Ballymitty) beat Tom Byrne (Kilmyshall)
D14 Sean Sinnott (Oulart) beat Kevin Shannon (Bridgetown)
D15 Tommy Haughton (St Joseph’s) beat Brendan Holohan (Templeudigan)
There has also been plenty of opening round action in the two ladies divisions also with Ciara Mullins (Garryhill) beating Ellen O’Connor (Leixlip) in division one a division that also saw wins for Marguerite Gore (St Mary’s) over Tanya O’Toole from Coolgraney and Mary Phelan from Clogh in Kilkenny got the better of Templeudigan’s Anne Boland.
While finally in division two Ciara Jordan (Coolboy), Tara Doyle (Horeswood) and Cora Doyle (St Joseph’s) all tasted opening round victories.
Leinster Juvenile Handball Success
There was a pulsating final played last week in St Mary’s in the Leinster under 12/13 team of six final. Only a mere three points separated the sides at the end of battle as Wexford completed the double over their old rivals Kilkenny on home ground. The tournament format sees three pairs of doubles matches and a maximum of 30 points per team can be scored in each match.
Kilkenny got off to the better start and took the opening rubber 30-22 as Glen Murphy and William Murray Byrne just came up short. Todd Hynes and Cian Kehoe were next into battle for Wexford but also tasted defeat on a 27-21 score line giving Kilkenny a 14 point advantage going into the final rubber. Cometh the hour, cometh the men as Michael Curran and Richard Browne blitzed their Marble City opponents on a 30-13 score line to give Wexford a combined 73-70 win.
In the under 14/15 team of six final there was no such luck for the model county, however as Kildare proved just too strong on the night in a 72-56 win. The Wexford boys in action here included Anthony Butler, Liam Rossiter, Enda Minogue, Adam Walsh, Patrick Boland and Kevin Shannon.
All Ireland chance for Wexford stars
Next weekend there are a total of six All Ireland titles up for grabs for the model county. On Friday night in Cashel The under 16 doubles pairing of Daniel Kavanagh and Tomas Hall go into action, while on Saturday and Sunday it’s the ladies turn as Roisin Walsh travels to Williamstown on Saturday for the Under 15 singles final and Holly Hynes then travels to Garryhill on Sunday for the under 14 girls singles final.
The men take centre stage then as Brendan Murphy and Stephen Murphy face Antrim opposition in the Silver Masters B doubles final, and in the Junior Doubles final David Kenny and Eugene Kelly from Castlebridge will carry Wexford hopes against Cavan opponents. Tommy Hynes and Paul Carthy will hope to retain their master’s doubles crown as they face Tipperary opposition in that final, all in all a very busy end to the 60 x 30 season for Wexford.
Wexford Handball board would like to wish the Wexford ladies Football team all the best in next Sunday’s All Ireland Junior Final. Loch Garman Abu.
