David and Tadhg retain All Ireland handball doubles title

David Walsh and Tadhg O Neill with Joe Masterson,President of GAA Handball, after eceiving their All Ireland minor medals.

With the end of the 40/20 season near, it was adult doubles All Ireland Finals weekend in Kingscourt, Cavan last weekend, where Tadhg O’Neill and David Walsh from Mallow Handball Club were looking to retain the All Ireland Minor doubles title which they won the year before.  On the road to Kingscourt, Tadhg and David had to defeat Clare and Tipperary before meeting Waterford in the Munster Final at the home venue. Tadhg and David defeated the Waterford pair in style, retaining their Munster title.
Tadhg and David then had to make the long journey to Carrickmore, Tyrone, to face a strong local pair, Cormac Munroe and Ciaran Cuddy, on the Tyrone pair’s home court, for the All Ireland semi final. The Cork pairing again showed great teamwork, defeating the Tyrone pair 21/11, 21/12, to claim their spot in the All Ireland Final for a second year in a row, against a Wexford pairing, Adam Walsh and Anthony Butler. The Cork pairing made another long journey,  to Kingscourt, Cavan, on Saturday last.
The minor final was one of the main events of the weekend and, with a packed gallery, the boys took to the court to face the Wexford pair at 4pm. They took the first game with confidence,  21/8. The second game, however, was a bit more difficult. The boys stormed into a 9/0 lead, but Wexford got in to serve and put up a great battle to bring it back to 10/9. With the Wexford players ahead by one ace, Tadhg and David took a 30 second time-out and came back in fighting form, taking the game 21/12, and winning the All Ireland minor title for a second year in a row. The last time this was done was 20 years ago, back in the mid 1990s, which was also done by a Cork pairing.
Mallow Handball Club had six players competing for All Ireland titles this year, all bringing home gold. Tadhg O’Neill took two of the six titles, winning the All Ireland Minor singles title a few weeks ago and now also bringing home the All Ireland minor doubles title with his long-standing partner David Walsh. Congratulations to you both on a great display of handball and a great achievement. You have done the club and county proud.