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Last weekend’s handball action saw Mayo club Ballaghaderreen take an historic sixth All Ireland 40 x 20 inter-club title in a row, defeating Ballydesmond, Co Cork, in the final. An icy Christmas led to huge fixture congestion, warranting both postponed semi-finals and final of the senior club championship be played on the same day. Ballaghaderreen accounted for the up-and-coming Kells, Co Kilkenny, in their semi-final. Ballydesmond came through a tight encounter with Carrickmore, Co Tyrone, to claim their final spot.

Martin Mulkerrins is a very un-assuming young man, but one with lots of skill in his hands.

Martin Mulkerrins is a very un-assuming young man, but one with lots of skill in his hands.

Martin Mulkerrins is a very un-assuming young man, but one with lots of skill in his hands.

Martin Mulkerrins is a very un-assuming young man, but one with lots of skill in his hands.

Ballaghaderreen claimed their fifth successive All-Ireland senior 40x20 club title at the expense of a game Coolboy of Wicklow at Abbeylara on Sunday last. Dessie Keegan opened for the Mayo side where he once again faced an in-form Michael Gregan. The Wicklow ace made life very difficult for the Mayo powerhouse in the first game, which he won comfortably 21 aces to seven. Keegan, at this stage a veteran of these team encounters, responded well in the second, which suffered a five minute delay due to a wet court, as he made his Wicklow opponent work much harder for each ace. Keegan took this game 21 aces to 15 to leave the Mayo side trailing by eight aces going into the doubles. Vincent Moran and Paul Flynn put in a fine performance to secure a good 21 aces to 12 win in the first game against Coolboy’s Pat Quaile and Michael Lennon. The second was a much closer affair which the Ballagh duo just won by a singles ace. With this slender advantage it was all up to Joe McCann who took on Johnny Willoughby in the final match of the afternoon. McCann was made to work very hard against a much-improved Willoughby and he did just that, winning the first game 21 aces to 17. This still left McCann needing 16 aces for victory in the final game of the evening. McCann kept a cool head and achieved the target at 16-14 to give Ballaghaderreen the well deserved victory. Much credit must go to the Coolboy lads who certainly pushed the Mayo champions all the way but overall Ballagh had the better balanced team on the day.

The 2010 handball season kicked off over the weekend with the Memorial Tournament at Ballaghaderreen, Roscommon, taking centre stage. Kilkenny’s Michael ‘Ducksy’ Walsh was once again in action and showed he is still able to mix it with the young guns in the event, defeating Mayo's Dessie Keegan in their quarter-final showdown.