Another juvenile title for Clare

THERE is no stopping Clare juvenile handball players as they captured yet another title at the weekend, adding to the previous weekend’s tally of five titles. THERE is no stopping Clare juvenile handball players as they captured yet another title at the weekend, adding to the previous weekend’s tally of five titles.
Last weekend saw Áine McInerney and Hannah O’Brien take on a formidable Kilkenny pairing in the U-17 girls’ doubles in Goresbridge, Kilkenny. The Clare girls were going in as underdogs but were quietly hoping to retain a title that Clare’s Alice Akers and Stacey Wright captured 12 months before.
Kilkenny started the strongest and forced their way into a 6-0 lead but the Clare girls were resilient and battled back to draw level. It was a nip-and-tuck affair with points and service exchanged on a regular basis. Kilkenny went in to serve for the first game at 20-18 but the Clare duo fought back to regain the service advantage and clinch a very close first game.
The Clare girls started the second game as they finished the first and raced into a 12-0 lead. The finishing line was in their sights and while the Kilkenny girls tried to rally back, it was Clare who took the game and the title to make it a historic 40×20 season for Clare juvenile handball, winning six out of a possible 15 All-Ireland juvenile titles.
At local level, the Clare county B doubles get underway this week in all divisions and clubs have been notified of fixtures.