All Ireland Handball Semi Finals
There was another busy weekend of All Ireland semi finals involving players from the model county and its with great pride that another three wins can be reported on this week.
Galeon Riordan from Ballyhogue won the minor singles semi final after beating Shane Doolan from Leitrim last weekend on a 21-5, 21-10 score line. The reward for Galeon is a trip to the All Ireland final next weekend in Williamstown in Galway where he will meet Limerick star Padraig Quish on Saturday night and it is the opening game for the All Ireland Senior Open Singles final between Eoin Kennedy and Robert McCarthy.
David Kenny and Eugene Kelly advanced to the final of the Junior doubles after a three set gripper against Stephen Joyce and Neil McDermott from Roscommon. Eugene Kelly only got the call into action during the week to replace injured Peter McGrath and despite this the Castlebridge duo still won the day on a 16-21, 21-19, 21-12 score line.
There was another doubles All Ireland semi final win for Castlebridge and the Murphy brothers Brendan and Stephen as they advanced in the Golden Masters B Doubles after a fine 21-15, 21-8 win over John Conroy and Joe Cummins from Mayo.
Not so lucky this week in All Ireland semi final of the under 21 doubles were Corey Murphy and Dean Power as they lost out 21-14, 21-5 against Mark Nally and Ciaran Connolly from Roscommon.
Leinster Juvenile Handball Finals
The “Magnifcent Seven” was the magic number of Leinster juvenile handball titles last weekend by the young stars of county Wexford.
In an action packed weekend of Juvenile provincial finals Glen Murphy was first into action in the under 12 singles and lost out 15-2, 15-4 against Jack Holden from Kilkenny. Richard Browne and Cillian Kehoe won the first Wexford title in the under 12 doubles final beating Conor O’Brien and Eoin Hosey from Carlow on a 4-15, 15-14, 15-4 score line.
Todd Hynes was the winner of the under 13 singles beating Eoin Brennan from Kilkenny on a 5-15, 15-5, 15-4 score line , however the under 13 doubles pairing of Willliam Murray Byrne and Michael Curran lost out 6-15, 15-6, 15-8 to Colin McKenna and Colin Dowling from Kilkenny.
Ciaran Busher and Kevin Shannon were comprehensively beaten in the under 15 doubles final to Deon Roche and Michael Purcell from Kilkenny, while Keith Armstrong lost out 21-16, 21-12 in the under 16 singles finals to Padraig Cooney from Kilkenny.
Tomas Hall and Daniel Kavanagh had a fantastic win in the final of the under 16 doubles beating Dylan Carley and Roy Curran from Kilkenny on a 21-11, 21-9 score line, while Bryan Keogh lost out 21-2, 21-4 in the final of the under 17 singles, and his doubles counterparts Jack Roche and Stephen Greene also lost out 21-19, 21-5 to Dara O’Se and Mark Dowling Kilkenny.
The girl’s finals also took place over the weekend in venues across Kilkenny and the girls contributed handsomely with four of Wexford’s seven titles with Cliodhna O’Connell and Leanne Boland getting the ball rolling in the under 12 doubles final with a 10-15, 15-10, 15-12 win over Noelle Dowling and Roisin O’Keefe from Kilkenny.
Cora Doyle lost out in the under 13 singles final going down 15-4, 11-15, 15-1 to Derbhla O’Keefe from Kilkenny, but under 13 doubles pairing Eva Creane and Lee Flanagan won 15-6, 15-6 in their final against Keeva Kelly and Eimear Farrell from Kilkenny.
Holly Hynes continued the winning formula in another whooper of a game as she beat Sorcha Delany from Kilkenny 10-15, 15-14, 15-13.and it was left to Roisin Walsh to complete the Fantastic Seven when she romped to a 15-4, 15-9 win over Catriona Lawlor from Kilkenny.
