County juvenile boys’ handball champions crowned

The Clare boys’ juvenile county singles A handball finals were held over the past week and saw some great matches across the age groups.
The U-12 decider was an all-Kilkishen affair, with Tiernan Agnew defeating Gary Cooney in a tie-breaker. Both U-15 finalists were also from the Kilkishen club, with Sean Donellan overcoming Jacob Loughnane in a match that also went to the third game.
Clarecastle’s Jack Hayes is U-13 champion after beating Tulla’s Shane Hunt while the U-14 final between Fergal Coughlan (Clooney) and Liscarroll winner Brian Fahy from Tulla was postponed due to injury. Tulla man Niall Bolton defeated his All-Ireland-winning doubles partner Barry Nash to take the U-16 crown while Glen Murray of Newmarket took the U-17 decider after an entertaining match with Aidan O’Gorman (Kilkishen).
Meanwhile, the prestigious Liscarroll club annual U-14 tournament took place recently at the Cork venue. With a large entry from right across the country, Clare had great success, with Banner players taking both titles.
In the U-15 section, Kilkishen’s Colin Crehan took the crown after beating two of the tournament favourites for a hard-earned win. Crehan had a comprehensive 15-5, 15-7 win over fellow Clare man Niall Bolton in the final after beating Mallow’s Ryan Harkin in the semi (15-10, 15-11).
In the U-13 section, Tulla’s Brian Fahy beat Clooney’s Fergal Coughlan 15-7, 15-6 in the semi-final before recording an impressive 15-2, 15-5 win over Cashel’s Josh Moroney in the final.

Clooney-Quin handball tournament a big success

The Clooney-Quin Handball Club U-14 tournament took place last weekend in the Clooney handball alley and proved to be a tremendous success.
The tournament, which has been running for over five years, was open to U-13 and U-14 boys and U-13 to U-15 girls in Clare and has become an integral part of the Clare handball season schedule.
This year, the tournament consisted of a 16-player A division and a 32-player B division and within each division, there was a championship and plate section.
The 48 players that entered the tournament come from both the host club and the other handball clubs throughout the county, namely Clarecastle, Newmarket-on-Fergus, O’Callaghan’s Mills, Tulla and Tuamgraney.
The tournament kicked off last Saturday morning in Clooney and all players played two timed games over the course of the day.
The tournament resumed on Sunday with quarter-finals, which were of seven minutes duration, followed by 10-minute semi-finals and finished with four finals on Sunday afternoon.
Almost 70 games were played over the two days, which saw great skills being displayed and great excitement during many of the timed games,
In the end, the following finalists emerged:
U-14A Championship final: Brian Fahy (Tulla) beat Conor Hayes (Tuamgraney). U-14A Plate: Conor Henry (O’Callaghan’s Mills) beat Seán Cotter (O’Callaghan’s Mills).
U-14B Championship: Tadhg Shanahan (Clooney-Quin) beat Ian Murray (Tuamgraney).U-14B Plate: Liam O’Connor (Newmarket) beat Conor McCarthy (Newmarket).