ALLEY CHAT with Padhraic Roberts
GAA Handball 40X20 Boys U-12/U-13 Team 6 All Ireland Semi-Final & Final
Four years ago the Co.Executive formulated and brought into existence ‘A Blueprint For The Future’ and that foresight and vision was given a ringing endorsement in no uncertain terms last Saturday as the boys who were eight and nine year’s old back then steamrolled over their opposition in the GAA Handball 40X20 Boys U-12/U-13 Team 6 All Ireland Final’s in Burgess/Kilcolman& Eire Og,Nenagh’s Court’s in Tipperary. Wexford had fallen spectacularly behind at Juvenile level nationally over the previous decade, so much so that we were nearly gone off the radar and the Officers at the time were faced with the stark reality that a radical and difficult overhaul of our Championship’s and structure’s as a whole needed to be undertaken. Painstaking and meticulous planning has gone into the last four years and tiny green shoots had been appearing certainly over the last twelve months but they burst into full bloom in early March when Wexford dominated the entry level grades of the Leinster Championships in Singles and Doubles and finally last Saturday the strength and depth of our younger players was there for all to see as they obliterated Monaghan in the Semi-Final and the Handballing stronghold of Tipperary in the All Ireland Final of the 40X20 Boys U-12/U-13 Team 6. The challenge facing us now is an altogether different one in that we need to move forward again and make sure another generation is nurtured as well as developing further the crop we already have. Both difficult tasks in themselves but equally as important. After an epic Leinster Final triumph over Kilkenny last Friday night week the boys travelled in reasonably confident mood that we could at the very least cause problems for a highly rated Monaghan team. Kilcolman just outside Nenagh in Tipperary was the venue on Saturday morning and in front of a big crowd Monaghan were completely overwhelmed by the Handball ability of the Wexford boys. Glen Murphy and Josh Kavanagh put the opening Farney boys to the sword winning 15-3, 15-3 and that left the Ulster county severely compromised as they put their trump card’s in EoghanMcGinnitty and Ryan Harnett into the fray. They too came up against an inspired Wexford pair in Josh McMahon and Richard Lawlor and they weren’t for turning winning it 15-8, 15-10. This meant the contest was effectively over because Wexford led by 60 Aces to 24 and couldn’t be caught with a Game to spare. Cian Kehoe and Diarmuid Moore hadn’t anything to play for in the last double and despite losing it 15-6, 15-9 it made no difference as Wexford came out on top by 75 Aces to 54. The Team 6 Championship showcases a County’s strength in depth and invariably over the last few years Tipperary have been particularly strong so a difficult task awaited the boys in the Final. Eire Og GAA Club was the venue and what appeared on paper as being a close game was to be anything but as Glen Murphy and Josh Kavanagh took apart the opening Tipperary pair 15-2, 15-4 to leave 24 Aces between the Teams going into the 2nd Doubles. Josh McMahon and Richard Lawlor incredibly finished the contest yet again with a 15-8, 15-7 victory after a terrific display. Cian Kehoe and Diarmuid Moore for the second time in a row weren’t needed and their game became a dead rubber. They shared games in any event 7-15, 15-8. St.Josephs had the biggest representation on the Team with five whilst St.Marys, Ballymitty and Barntown had one each. Glen Murphy (St.Marys) was solid as a rock throughout and led from the front. Josh Kavanagh (St.Josephs) was in terrific form and was hardly beaten on any Ball. Josh McMahon (St.Josephs) put in two great displays on the Left and used his Serve to good effect. Richard Lawlor (St.Josephs) was magnificent yet again and chased down every Ball. Cian Kehoe (St.Josephs) &Diarmuid Moore (St.Josephs) the Leinster Final Stars went into both games knowing that they had already won but they performed well in deflating circumstances. Dean O’Neill (Ballymitty) and Gavin Lawlor (Barntown) were the able substitutes on duty and Virginia Hanrahan acted as Kit Lady. A fantastic Team display by all the boys and one that marks them down as being Stars of the Future.
Report by Gavin Buggy
- RESULTS
All Ireland Semi-Final V’s Monaghan in Kilcolman.
Glen Murphy & Josh Kavanagh (Wexford) beat DeivydasKaukluaskas&Tiarnan O’Rourke (Monaghan) 15-3, 15-3..
Josh McMahon & Richard Lawlor (Wexford) beat EoghanMcGinnitty& Ryan Harnett (Monaghan) 15-8, 15-10..
Cian Kehoe &Diarmuid Moore (Wexford) lost to Jacob Szkup&KonradKowal (Monaghan)
6-15, 9-15..
Overall Score : Wexford 75 Monaghan 54..
All Ireland Final V’s Tipperary in Eire Og, Nenagh.
Glen Murphy & Josh Kavanagh (Wexford) beat Sean Hayes & James Loughnane (Tipperary)
15-2, 15-4..
Josh McMahon & Richard Lawlor (Wexford) beat Jack O’Keeffe &Conor O’Dwyer (Tipperary)
15-8, 15-7..
Cian Kehoe & Diarmuid Moore (Wexford) lost to Matthew Spain & Ben White (Tipperary)
7-15, 15-8..
Overall Score : Wexford 82 Tipperary 44..
All-Ireland Semi Final Team of four boys U-16/U17
Wexford – Ciaran Busher, Shane Murphy, Liam Rossiter, Darren Murphy, Laurence Dunne & Conor Nolan
Wexford lost on a scoreline of 16 points to Monaghan 60 points
Wexford fought extremely hard in this semi final match but unfortunately came up against a Monaghan side with simple too much class. However the Wexford team can hold their heads high as the previous week they put in an outstanding performance to secure a Leinster title against a fancied Kilkenny.
Wexford County Report & Results
Buggy secures seventh senior title in eight years at St. Joseph’s……..
Gavin Buggy (St. Joseph’s) secured yet another senior county open singles title in 40 x 20 on Wednesday night as he defeated Tommy Hynes (St Mary’s) on a score line of 21-14, 18-21 & 21-8. There was a magnificent attendance at the St Joseph’s alley and the standard of handball on show was certainly a credit to both players. The first game began at a frantic pace with Buggy securing some early score. Both players demonstrated some excellent roof shots throughout this encounter and there were moments of pure magic also displayed by both players. Once Tommy Hynes settled into the first game he executed some marvellous serving. The pure raw power of his serves caused some trouble for Buggy. However the title holding Buggy soon began to adapt to this fast pace of serving and ran out the winner of the first game on a score line of 21-14.
The second game began with both players exchanging serves and taking point for point until Buggy’s dominance prevailed assisted by some top class killing of the ball off the rear wall using both left and right hands, this coupled with a serve and volley style approach left the St Josephs man in a commanding lead of 11-3 halfway through the second game. At this point in the match the players had to switch courts due to the alley becoming wet as a result of the fast tempo of the first game and a half. What happened next can only be described as breath taking. Once the players changed to the adjacent alley Tommy Hynes took serve and at 11-3 down and this proved to be the turning point in the second game. The serving technique put on show by Hynes was at a standard that all young handballer’s in the county show strive to achieve. His ability to combine power and accuracy when serving was incredible, this was murmured around the gallery by the spectators, as he took the lead in the second game by 13-11 before Buggy regained serve. Having that said Gavin Buggy would have felt disappointed with himself at this stage of the game as he had some opportunities to retake serve before Hynes had reached 13 points. The remainder of the second game was played out with both players exchanging scores before Tommy Hynes served at 17-15 down and made some vital scores to take him to a scoreline of 20-17. Buggy did mange to get back into serve but Tommy Hynes secured the second game on a scoreline of 21-17.
And so to the deciding game, in which both players showed signs of fatigue after a long 40 x 20 campaign dating back to the start of the Winter League in October. This third game saw some good rally play with both players using good recovery safety shots and also securing scores with excellent kill shots. However at the stage of the match Gavin Buggy seemed to find another gear and pulled away to win the third game on a scoreline of 21-6. Tom Rossiter, Wexford County Handball Chairman, presented the medals to both players. Gavin Buggy then said a few words thanking his opponent Tommy Hynes for a tough battle and also a huge thanks went out to Tony Breen, County Handball Secretary, who as stated by Buggy ‘steers the ship for Wexford Handball, this was greeted by a huge round of applause from all the spectators who dually acknowledged the tremendous work carried out by Tony Breen.
County Results Round-up
Senior Singles
Gavin Buggy(St. Josephs) beat Tommy Hynes (St. Mary’s) 21-15, 17-21, 21-6
Women’s Junior Doubles
Roisin Walsh/Cora Doyle (St. Josephs) beat Tanya O’Toole/Una Hughes (Coolgreany) 9-21, 21-10, 21-16
Junior ‘C’ Singles
Paddy Cheevers (Horeswood) beat Sean Stanners (St. Martins) 21-14, 21-11
Junior ‘D’ Doubles
Tomas Murphy/Timmy Farrell (Kilmyshall) beat James Stanners/David Stanners (St. Martins) 21-9, 21-11
