Underage handball stars in the hunt for All-Ireland honours

This Sunday, the All-Ireland juvenile finals will take place in O’Loughlins in Kilkenny, where the Banner County’s five Munster champions all face Ulster opposition in their respective finals.
The action starts at 11am and the first match is the girls’ U-14 doubles final, with Clodagh Nash (Tuamgraney) and Doireann Murphy (Clarecastle) taking on Armagh’s Aoibhinn Henderson and Alana Doran.
Clooney’s Natasha Coughlan and Michelle Nihill play Tyrone pair Maeve McElduff and Aoife Kelly in the girls’ U-16 doubles decider.
Colin Corbett (Tulla) will be favourite to take the boys’ U-16 title when he plays Eugene McGeough from Monaghan.
This Saturday sees Colin Crehan and Niall Bolton play the All-Ireland minor doubles final in Cappagh, Limerick, at 12.30pm against Tyrone’s Pol Clarke and Gabhainn McCrystal. After impressive wins in the Munster final against fellow Clare pair Barry Nash and Patrick Fitzgerald and in the All-Ireland semi-final against Wexford, hopes are high the Kilkishen/Tulla duo can claim a win this Saturday and take the prestigious minor crown. Tyrone defeated Leitrim in their All-Ireland semi-final. The minor decider will be followed by the ladies’ senior singles final between Fiona Shannon of Antrim and Maria Daly from Kerry and the eagerly awaited men’s senior doubles final between Cavan (Paul Brady and Michael Finnegan) and Meath (Tom Sheridan and Brian Carroll). The triple-bill is all-ticket and, at time of writing, is almost sold out (contact handball office in Croke Park for details).
Former All-Ireland doubles champions Diarmaid Nash and Niall Malone tasted success again last week when they won the UCD one-wall handball tournament. The Tuamgraney pair came from behind to beat Stephen Cooney (Mayo) and Niall O’Connor (Kildare) in the final. The tournament was played ‘as Gaeilge’ and was a fundraiser for the Croí charity.
The Clare adult handball league Division 3 semi-finals took place last Wednesday night when Clarecastle were looking to make it an all-Magpie final as their A team took on Shannon and the B team played Tuamganey.
The focus will soon switch from small alley to big alley handball and the county handball board have requested all club secretaries forward a list of players interested in entering the 60×30 championships to county secretary Michael Hogan.