MELLANS HANDBALL

Table Quiz. We will be running our annual fund raising table quiz tomorrow night Friday the 16th of March in St.Mellans starting 9:00pm sharp, we hope to see many club and extended members down on the night to support us in our fund raising event, refreshments will be served with a draw on the night for some spot prizes, so come on down for a good nights craic.

Juvenile Ulster Championships. Congratulations to Aaron and cousin Ryan Mohan as the boys secured their second Ulster title in a row with a comprehensive victory over Tyrone opposition in the U13 Doubles final last Saturday in Kingscourt. The boys won the first easily 15-6 but had to work a little bit more for second game and took it 15-10, well done boys and lets do the same next year again and then progress on into the All Ireland title series as U14 moves up so this will give you both something more to aim for, well done boys. It was a harder luck story for Niall Rooney as he re-presented the county at U17 level in the singles, doing well in the first and being 14-10 up his opponent took a time out as Niall was in control and this seemed to knock him out of his rhyme and he lost it 21-14. The second game didn’t materialise as his opponent took full control of it and Niall just lost his way but this is something which Niall will learn from and respond positively to, hard luck Niall but be very proud on reaching an Ulster Final but learn for your mistakes and return next year more determined.  

All-Ireland Championships. Eamon Todd’s & Christopher Mc Kenna have reached the All Ireland final in the Junior “B” Doubles, they dispatched of their Galway opponents in St.Mellans Saturday last 21-14, 21-18, as the boys see the score lines are becoming tighter as the competition progresses so the gears must be upped again. As of yet there has been no confirmation of the final but when we are notified we will publish it.

Ulster U21 Doubles Final. Christopher Mc Kenna(D) & Terry Mc Elvaney (Harps) have not received word of their re-arranged All Ireland U21 Doubles Semi-final yet, when we find out info we will text around and publish.

Adult County Single Championships. Frank Mc Kenna and Gabriel Mc Aree played their long awaited Nov4 final Wednesday night week past in St.Mellans and after the long wait it didn’t disappoint for excitement especially at the closing stages of the last 2 games. This was a 3 game marathon as both men refused to give an inch. The 1stgame Frank won it comfortably enough 21-11 and in the 2nd seemed to be pretty much in control only for Gabriel’s fight back to kick in and level at 17-17 and going point for point Gabriel won it 21-19, and so the last and final game started with Frank again taking control of proceedings but again Gabriel refused to go away and levelled all again at 20-20, both men had a chance to win it with both severing for game and match several times but cometh the hour cometh the man and Frank got that point he was looking for and sealed the title, well done to both players. After the Nov4 the Junior final between Christopher Mc Kenna and Brendan Finan of Tydavnet served of and from the outset Christopher took full control of both games winning them 21-11, 21-13 and secured yet another title for himself. Christopher just had too much in the tank for Brendan with his serving, killing and passing shots. It was still a spirited display from Brendan but the night and title belonged to Christopher, well done to all players on the night.

Adult County Doubles Championships. We have several sets of player’s which have made county doubles finals, in the Nov4 Frank Mc Kenna & Damien Mc Clave, and in Nov3 Kevin Treanor & Patrick Mc Kenna are there and this could see Frank in No3 and Patrick in Nov3 claiming both titles singles and doubles, all Finals TBC. Good luck to all involved

Juvenile Club Leagues. Friday evening last saw a conclusion to the juvenile leagues that has been running over the last few weeks, first into the alley was the top pair in The Down League Shaun Mc Aree against Nicole Mc Carron Shauna won 15-7 15-7, next was the Cork League top two which were new comers to the came Kalum Mc Kenna against Ryan Treanor, Kalum won 15-0 15-5, then in was the Kilkenny league top men of Ryan Harnet and Ryan Boyle this was a long 3 game match which Ryan Harnet won 15-5, 14-15, 15-7, next was the Dublin League men of Cormac Mc Kenna and Gary Mohan Gary won this one also over 3 games 15-13, 7-15, 15-6, after that the Galway League final was between Noel Flood and Ciaran Treanor which Noel won 21-17 21-12 and finally on Friday night the last game was the Donegal League final between Mathew Flood and Feragl Rafferty which Mathew won 15-9 15-6. Then on Monday evening the league final between Maebh Mc Cluskey and Ciara Treanor in the Sligo league was played  which Ciara won 15-6 15-9. There are still two outstanding finals the Kerry League between Aaron Mohan and Ryan Mohan and the Tipperary final between Cian Maguire and Ronan Boyle these will be played this week. Well done to all who won all the runners-up and all who took part in the leagues all coaches commended all the players on how well they adapted to competitive play and on how well all had improved over the coaching and league periods.

Photos of all finalists will be published over the next few weeks along with the notes so keep an eye out for your picture.

Community Games. Good luck to our U15 team who now start playing in the Ulster round of games.

GAA Team. Our GAA B Team have reached their final in the “GAA B league”, there they take on the Bawn B Team, time and venue of final TBC.

Adult Club Championships. The club singles and doubles finals are pencilled in for next weekend so all remaining games must be played this week coming.

Prize Draw. We will be approaching club members if they would be interested in buying a ticket for the handball council, there are some brilliant prizes for the individuals and also for the club, all will be explained before purchasing.

BAWN HANDBALL

  Well done to Eugene mc Geough who won his 2nd  40×20 Ulster title last sat in Kingscourt, u15s last year and now u16s it seems that hard work pays off and all the hours Eugene has spent in the court were worth it . The club would like to thank Raymond Leonard and Martin mc Entee for coaching  Eugene and  Gavin Coyle (u15 doubles ) , Also Ducksy Walsh  who is helping Eugene  to bring on his game .Gavin Coyle and Mark mc Donnell were not successful in there u15s doubles final but a great achievement  to get that far lads .Club League finals were played  last Fri. night and  nearly went on till sat morning ! Div 3 was won by Killian mc Elroy where he dft Robert Wallace in 2 straight games , Robert went for every ball and didn’t give up but Killian’s  powerful passing shots got to him in the end. Div 2 was won by Michael Duffy sr who dft Gary Mc Elroy in a 3 game match, If ever there was a game to show that handball can be played by all ages this was it , despite the big age difference (I’ll not say how many years )this was a very competitive match with all the shots in the book being used , in the end experience won over youth  and  after a  90 min of play Michael Sr won out . Div 1 was a display of handball at the highest level with senior players Michael Clerkin taking on Michael Duffy Jr , no one could call this match as both players are on top form , Michael jr took the 1st game and it looked like victory was in sight for him in the 2nd but  Michael Clerkin fought back to take the lead and win, it to the tie break and neither player was giving up ,the only ball that was safe was the one outside the court ! Michael Jr started to edge ahead and slowly build up a lead and as we passed 12 am and into sat morning he won 21-12. A great match enjoyed by all there.  Best of luck to our Gaa div2 team who take on St mells Truagh in the county final this week , Robert Wallace Capt,  Killian mc Elroy, Michael Moynagh and Martin Clerkin.  The club is holding  a Have a go day for Handball on the 23rd of march from 6pm to 8pm anyone 16-90 wishing to see how its played and try it out just turn up on the night, contact Eamon for details 0871236806.

HARPS HANDBALL

Our Ulster Juvenile finalists failed to land any titles last Saturday in Kingscourt.  Ryan Mooney’s final was postponed.  Caileán Myles, who had been playing great handball recently, started off brightly against Tyrone’s Cormac Munroe.  His powerful serves unsettled his opponent and he led by 10 points to 4.  However some poor decision-making led to a comeback by Munroe who took the first game by 15 to 14.  The Tyrone player easily won the second on the scores of 15 to 5.
Our Under 12 pairing of Justas Dambinskas and Eoghan Mc Ginnity were also in contention in the first game against Tyrone’s Ronan Curran and Anton Fox.  Justas coped well early on with the strong serves although the Harps lads lost by 15 to 9.  Nothing went right in the second and some missed shots left Tyrone with too big of a lead.  The game ended 15-0.  This was Justas and Eoghan’s first Ulster final and they will relish more tough competitive matches in the future.
Ramunas and Conall Mc Kenna lost the Under 16 Doubles final to top-ranked Johnny Woods and Ryan Mullen.  The result was never in doubt but Ramunas put in an exceptional offensive display that surprised the large crowd of supporters.  Tyrone won 21-11 21-11.

TYDAVNET HANDBALL

     At the Ulster juvenile finals in Kingscourt last Saturday, Casey Treanorwho was playing in the girls U16 singles final was defeated by Aoife McConville from Armagh. Casey played very well but the Armagh champion was superb and will be favourite to win an All-Ireland on this form. Meanwhile Conor Leonard’s final in the U14 boy’s singles is to be played in Scotstown later this week as his opponent Sean Kerr from Tyrone was injured on Saturday. We wish Conor the best of luck in the final.

HARD LUCK BRENDAN AND SEAN

Hard luck to Brendan Finan and Sean Mohan who were both defeated in the junior and minor county finals respectively at the weekend. Their pponents, Christopher (Pat John) McKenna in the junior final and Darren Doherty in the minor final are both playing brilliant handball at the moment and both our players will learn from playing in these finals.

JUVENILE HANDBALL LEAGUE (EVELYN MOHAN MEMORIAL SHIELD)

The juvenile handball league group 1 for the Evelyn Mohan memorial Shield reached a conclusion on Monday night. The first semi-final was between Ciaran Treanor and Conor Leonard and this was a cracking match with Conor winning the 1st game 15 – 5, losing the 2nd game 15-13 and in the tie breaker Ciaran won a tense match 15- 12. In the other semi-final Gary Holohan played Sean Mohan and this was another epic three game battle. There is never much between these two with their league game finishing level and Sean winning the county minor semi-final 21-19 in the third game. This time Gary turned the tables winning 15 – 12, 11 – 15 and 15 – 10. In the final Gary played Ciaran Treanor and after defeating Sean he was determined to be the first winner of the new shield and although Ciaran played some great handball and at times threatened to cause an upset it was Gary who won in two straight games 15 – 9 and 15 – 6.

Next up is the group three semi-finals between Conor McMahon v Killian Sherry and Ronan King v Liam McCague.