M.Donnelly GAA Handball All Ireland Open Singles
Wexford handball will have one of its biggest ever clashes between two county senior stars this Friday in the M.Donnelly GAA Handball All Ireland Open singles as Gavin Buggy and Barry Goff will clash in the Quarter Finals.
In the past many classics have been played out between county stars of the past like Seamus Buggy and Dick Lyng to mention just two, however, in recent times there has been no real clashes of Wexford players on the court outside the county championships.
Barry Goff and Gavin Buggy both former World champions and as a partnership they were defeated in an All Ireland Senior Doubles final before will certainly get the handball and GAA supporters of county Wexford out in force next Friday night at 7pm in St Mary’s handball club, with all patrons advised to get to the court early to view this expected great tussle.
In the past week both players qualified through the round of 16 with nice wins. Gavin Buggy had the task of taking care of Vinnie Moran from Mayo and got a very tough battle from the man from the West before Buggy took the contest on a 9-21, 21-9, 21-14 score line.
Barry Goff showed his form and class with a dominant display against Michael Finnegan from Cavan in his last sixteen clash. Goff, who is the current Wexford Farmers Co-op 60 x 30 singles champion, blitzed his opponent 21-3 in the opening set. However, Finnegan a former World Open doubles champion, battled back well in the second set but was unable to stop the force and power of Goff who took the second set 21-18.
M.Donnelly GAA Handball All Ireland Open Doubles
Barry Goff and Colin Keeling will carry Wexford hopes for the rest of the M.Donnelly GAA Handball All Ireland Open Doubles. The Castlebridge /St Mary’s duo received a walk over in the round of sixteen clash from Roscommon but face into a south east derby this week when they meet Michael Gregan and Jerome Willoughby from Wicklow in what will be a close battle but it is hoped and expected that the Wexford duo will succeed and secure a semi final spot.
Gavin Buggy and Paul Lambert were knocked out of the round of sixteen in the same competition as they were defeated by Michael Finnegan and Paul Brady from Cavan on a 21-9, 21-5 score line. Michael Finnegan is a household name on the 60 x 30 court. However, this is a first taste at senior level for Paul Brady in the big court and he proved that his handball power is just as good in the bigger court form of the game. The strength of this pair was shown further in the quarter finals as they defeated last year’s champions Tom Sheridan and Brian Carroll from Meath and one can only assume that if Barry Goff and Colin Keeling and the Cavan men progress, it would make for one very interesting game.
Leinster 60 x 30 handball championships
Last week was a tremendous week of achievement and success for the model county in the 60 x 30 on the Leinster scene as four titles were claimed by the model county.
Paul Lambert got the ball rolling by winning his second Leinster junior singles title on the trot by having semi final and final wins in the past week. In the semi final Paul came through a fantastic match with Jerome Willoughby from Wicklow on a 21-8, 19-21, 21-9 score line to set up a final with top Offaly player David Hope. It proved to be a very eventful final but one where Lambert was giving everything and took his chances when they came to him. While trailing 19-16 in the opening set , David Hope was accidently struck in the eye by the ball and after receiving fifteen minutes of attention he came back to the court but could only see Paul Lambert serve out the opening set to win 21-19. With the momentum in his corner Lambert offered no sympathy to Hope and delivered the knock out blows to take the second set 21-9. Lambert was beaten in the All Ireland Junior singles final last year and this year he will hope to go one better and make the move up to intermediate ranks.
Dean Corrigan and Corey Murphy had one of the biggest wins for underage handball in Wexford for a long time as they took the minor doubles title during the week after winning an epic clash with Niall O’Connor and Robert McGuire from Kildare. Despite losing the singles final to O’Connor, Dean Corrigan joined by his Castlebridge club mate Murphy, saw the opportunity for revenge and took it with some style in a 21-16, 21-20 win over the Kildare men and the Wexford duo will now be among the favourites for the All Ireland title.
Castlebridge was celebrating another club pair picking up a Leinster title as Diarmuid Smyth and David Kenny took the Junior B doubles title. In a very tough game against Kilkenny opponents Anthony Lawlor and Brendan Hosey, the Castlebridge duo were knocked out of the stride early doors by losing the opening set 21-8. However, it was to be the shot in the arm the Wexford duo needed and they turned up the tempo in the next two sets and took the title 21-14, 21-10 in the next two sets. With a very strong recent Wexford success in the Junior B doubles, the Castlebridge duo will hope to make it three wins on the trot at All Ireland level in this grade.
Ricky Barron and Tom Connors came out on tops in an All Wexford Leinster final in the Masters B doubles as they overcame Shane Rossiter and Jimmy Moran in a three set final. The Barntown duo Barron and Connors took the opening set 21-14 but lost the second set on a similar close score line of 21-15. However, the Ballymitty duo of Rossiter and Moran could not find any chances in the third set and Barron and Connors went on to blitz the thirds set on a 21-2 score line.
Cormac Smyth was unable to grab the winning habit last week as he lost out in the intermediate singles final on a 21-9, 21-12 score line to Gary McConnell from Meath.
Jason Murphy and Eugene Kelly lost their Leinster Junior doubles crown on Sunday afternoon also as they were defeated 21-14, 21-15 by David Hope and Michael O’Brien from Offaly.
Wexford Farmers Co-op 60 x 30 Semi Final and Finals
The last semi final clash of this year’s Wexford Farmers Co-Op county 60 x 30 handball championship took place during the past week as Aidan Sinnott and Alan O’Neill from Ballymitty secured a spot in the Junior Doubles decider after they claimed a 21-10, 21-12 win over Brendan and Stephen Murphy from Castlebridge.
The stage was set then for the first of the many finals to take place over the coming weeks with the Junior singles decider an all St Mary’s clash being the first final to take place as Paddy Haughton got the better of his club mate on a 21-15, 21-10 score.
Paul Reddy and Jimmy Moran from Ballymitty took the honours in the Junior B doubles final as they defeated Bridgetown duo PJ Martin and Alan Reid on a 21-5, 21-8 score line.
The Golden Master B doubles final was a very good final that eventually saw a Ballymitty success over St Martin’s as Aiden Sinnott and Miley Byrne took the title on a 18-21, 21-10, 21-10 score line.
Harry and Pat Leacy got a title on the board for St Joseph’s as they took the Diamond Masters B Doubles title in a 21-12, 21-8 win over Tom Rossiter and Brian Murphy from Castlebridge.
Juvenile Doubles
The remaining two finals of the County Juvenile 60 x 30 doubles championships will take place this coming week on Wednesday night with a 7pm start for the Under 14 final between Seamus Sinnott/ Keith Armstrong (St Martin’s) and Oisín Foley/Dean Whelan (Castlebridge) and this final will be quickly followed by the under 10 doubles final clash of Jake Kelly and Cathal Connolly (Templeudigan) and Richard Browne /Colm Kiely (St Joseph’s).
Under 10 semi finals results
Richard Browne /Colm Kiely (St Joseph’s) beat Cian Kehoe /Glen Murphy (St Joseph’s)
Jake Kelly /Cathal Connolly (Templeudigan) beat Mark Doyle /Josh Kavanagh (St Joseph’s)