Pauline Gallagher and Dessie Keegan were among the eight strong Irish men’s and ladies’ teams who competed in the one-wall Federations Cup in Imperia, Italy, last weekend. The Irish women lost in qualifying to Holland and Puerto Rico but qualified for the consolation ELA club. The Irish team saw off the challenge of the Basque Country and France to take the title in style. The team also included Roscommon’s Marianna Rushe, Kerry’s Ashley Prendiville, and Down’s Lorraine Havern. Dessie Keegan helped team mates Charly Shanks (Armagh ), James Doyle (Antrim ), and Robbie McCarthy (Westmeath ) to a fifth place finish in the men’s team event following qualifying wins over France and Mexico. However the Irish lost their quarter-final to Puerto Rico. Twenty teams in all competed in the annual one-wall team tournament.
Mayo junior club champions Newport’s run of luck came to an end as they lost out by two aces to Curraghboy of Roscommon in the provincial semi-final at Williamstown on Wednesday night, while Claremorris’ hopes of reaching the junior B final also came unstuck as they were beaten 84-42 by St Coman’s Roscommon.
A number of young handballers from the Kiltimagh club featured in the second weekend of boys’ u13 B Irish Junior National qualifiers at Kingscourt on Saturday. Paul Byrne defeated Conor Teague of Tyrone in his first match but lost out in the final qualifying game to Jonathan McGovern from Meath. Both Stephen Madden and Donovan Cosgrove suffered similar fates at the hands of Tyrone handballers. However Paul Cunnane has made it through to the last 16 as he beat Conor McNelis comfortably.
The qualifying round and final in each grade take place at Kingscourt this coming weekend and both Stephen Cooney and Ian McLoughlin will be vying for honours in the boys’ u19 and under event where Cooney is the number two seed. Amy Corrigan, Clodagh McManamon, and Leona Ryder are all entered in the girls’ u19, but Wicklow’s, Shauna Hilley and Down’s Lorraine Havern will be the ones to beat. Jennifer Fahey is a definite contender in a top class girls’ u15 singles event and she is expected to progress to the semi-final where she would probably meet the all-Ireland u16 singles champion Lauren O’Riordan of Roscommon on Saturday. Both Dayna Finn and Maggie Byrne are runners in the u13 girls A competition. For many it will be a first opportunity to savour the unique experience of national competition and it is good to see so many clubs in Mayo using the opportunity to give young inexperienced handballers a run.
There were changes aplenty at the well-attended Mayo handball board AGM last Monday night in Castlebar, and key among them was the ratification of Tom Byrne, Kiltimagh, to the position of chairman to succeed Swinford’s Kevin Fahey. Martin Vahey was re-elected secretary, while Tim Hughes takes over from the long-serving Gus Heraty in matters financial and Aidan McNulty from Killasser is the new PRO.
