Six of the best for Mallow at County Juvenile Handball Finals

The Cork County Juvenile Handball Finals were held in Mallow Handball Club last Saturday evening and Sunday. Eoghan Sheehan and Darragh Moynihan were first in for Mallow, playing against Jerry Cronin and J.J Herlihy from Ballydesmond. Two hard-fought games ensued to settle this under 15 doubles final. The Mallow boys won out in the end, 15-13, 15-13, proving the more determined team as they treated a packed alley to some tremendous displays of handball skills. Next up for Mallow was Tadhg O’Neill in the under 13 singles final against Tommy O’Neill (Liscarroll). There was great credit due to the young Liscarroll lad, who even though outclassed by the current world champion, 15-2, 15-0, never gave in and displayed true sportsman-ship throughout. Tommy is a great friend and sometimes foe of Mallow Handball Club and we are under no illusion that Tommy’s day will come! This game was followed by the under14 doubles game, Representing Mallow were David Walsh and Eoin Buckley who were up against Darragh Moynihan and Pauric O’Leary from Ballydesmond. Mallow got off to a flying start, beating Ballydesmond 15-6 in the first game, but the Bally boys came back to beat the Mallow lads 15-11 in the second game. It was all to play for in the first tie-breaker of the competition but unfortunately for Mallow it wasn’t to be their day, with Ballydesmond coming out on top 15-4. Even though success wasn’t on the cards for the Mallow team, Eoin Buckley put in one of his best ever performances and opened quite a few eyes. So the count at the end of Saturday’s games was 2 out of 3 to Mallow. Sunday morning’s games started at 10:30 with Michael O’Malley up first for Mallow against Jerry O’Sullivan (Boherbue) in the under 13 singles final. Michael went to work in his usual methodical manner, defeating his opponent 15-7, 15-5. Michael had a very successfull year in 2012 and his form seems good for the coming year. Next up for Mallow was Michael’s buddy Cian O’Driscoll, playing in the under 12 singles final against Luke Barrett (Liscarroll). Luke put in an impressive effort against the current world silver medallist but was defeated 15-3, 15-3. Up next was without doubt the most thrilling and heart-stopping game of the competition, the boys under 12 doubles final. Representing Mallow were Anthony O’Connell and Aaron O’Connor who defeated Micheal O’Callaghan and Colin Healy (Liscarroll) 15-14, 2-15, 15-10. These two teams were very evenly matched but through the sheer determination of the Mallow boys another county medal was put into the bag! The next game up for Mallow was the under 9 doubles final. Represen-ting Mallow Handball Club were Joshua Harkin and Ben Mannix against Darragh Fitzgerald and Cormac Hartnett (Ballydesmond). These two young handballers played their hearts out in three exausting games, never giving up on any shot and covering the alley like two old pros! These two Mallow boys have a great future ahead with, I suspect, many more titles to come. The final score in the under 9 doubles final was 11-10, 5-11, 11-6. Finally the last and most important game of the day was the under 8 doubles final with Conor O’Flaherty and Ryan O’Sullivan playing for Mallow against Darrgh Moynihan and Donal Moynihan (Boherbue). At this stage many of the parents needed to be resuscitated with so many games going to tiebreakers, but the boys under 8 final was not going to give them any reprieve from futher heart-stopping action. The first game was fiercely fought and eventually won by the Mallow lads, 11-10. Boherbue came back in the second game, defeating Mallow 5-11. It was all to play for in the tiebreaker with the young Mallow lads moving quickly up through the gears and defeating the Boherbue lads 11-6, bringing the total tally of county medals to six. Not bad going for a weekend’s work! The County Shield was also being competed for during the weekend, to be presented to the club with the most county medals won over the competition. The tally at the moment is Mallow 6, Kilworth 6, but Mallow have one game left to play as one handballer was unable to play due to illness. That game is to be played in the coming week(s). So it’s down to the under 13 doubles final, with Jimmy Duggan and Conor Walsh (Mallow) playing Sean Murphy and Dylan Kearney (Bally-desmond), to determine if Mallow Handball Club will retain the County Shield for the 9th year in a row. Mallow Handball Club would like to sincerely thank all those who helped to make the weekend such a success and well done to the outstanding Mallow coaching team comprising of Don Carroll, Ken O’Neill, Dale Cusack and Irene Sheehan (Mallow Juvenile Officer). Thanks also to sponsors Mallow Credit Union.

 

Results

U15D Eoghan Sheehan and Darragh Moynihan (Mallow) defeated Jerry Cronin and J.J Herlihy (Ballydesmond) 15-13, 15-13

U14 Singles Tadhg O’Neill (Mallow) defeated Tommy O’Neill (Liscarroll) 15-2, 15-0

U14 Doubles

Darragh Moynihan and Pauric O’Leary (Ballydesmond) defeated David Walsh and Eoin Buckley (Mallow) 6-15, 15-11, 15-4

U13 Singles Micheal O’Malley (Mallow) defeated Jerry O’Sullivan (Boherbue) 15-7, 15-5

U12 Singles Cian O’Driscoll (Mallow) defeated Luke Barrett (Liscarroll) 15-3, 15-3

U12 Doubles Anthony O’Connell and Aaron O’Connor (Mallow) defeated Micheal O’Callaghan and Colin Healy (Liscarroll) 15-14, 2-15, 15-10

U9 Doubles Joshua Harkin and Ben Mannix (Mallow) defeated Darragh Fitzgerald and Cormac Hartnett (Ballydesmond) 11-10, 5-11, 11-6

U8 Doubles Conor O’Flaherty and Ryan O’Sullivan (Mallow) defeated Darrgh Moynihan and Donal Moynihan (Boherbue) 11-10, 5-11, 11-6.

Under 13 Geal Linn Mixed Doubles

Sarah Kelly and Cian O’Driscoll from Mallow Handball Club represented Cork last weekend in the Under 13 Geal Linn Mixed Doubles Munster Handball Finals, which were held in Ballydesmond. Sarah and Cian were drawn to play against Limerick and Tipperary. The format of the competition was a five minute girls’ singles game followed by a five minute boys’ singles game, followed by a five minute mixed doubles game. The scores from the three games were totalled to from the overall score (aggregate score). The girls from Limerick and Tipperary proved too strong for Sarah, notching up an early lead against the Cork team. Next in was for Cork was Cian who played two physical games against the Limerick and Tipperary boys but was unable to make any real dent on the overall scoreboard, beating Limerick by 5 points and loosing to Tipperary by a point. It was now down to the two doubles games with Cian playing on the left and Sarah on the right. The Cork pair put down a tough game against Limerick but came out on top, defeating Limerick 3-2 followed by an impressive defeat over Tipperary 10-2 with Sarah Kelly scoring a fine total of five aces. Limerick went on to win the Munster title.

Sarah Kelly showed great courage and composure during the competition and was very unlucky to have lost the toss to serve first for both of her singles games, as Sarah scored most of her aces from serve. This was Sarah Kelly’s first time playing in competition and it was Mallow Handball Clubs first time entering a mixed doubles team into the Under 13 Geal Linn Mixed Doubles competition. Sarah will be back in competition along with the other girls from Mallow Handball Club in the coming weeks and we wish them the best of luck.

Munster Senior

Quarter Final

Killian Carroll (Mallow) defeated Ger Coonan (Tipperary) 21-2, 21-20.

Senior Colleges

Michael Hedigan (Liscarroll) defeated Podge Buckley (Mallow).

Pa Herlihy and Ryan Harkin (Mallow) won 31-0 in the doubles game.