Handball

By Paul Fitzpatrick After one of the most successful 40x20 seasons ever, Cavan"s handballers are now turning their attention to the 60x30 court in preparation for the Ulster championship which begins in just over a month. With senior star Michael Finnegan out of the running and his doubles partner Paul Brady tied up with football commitments with his club Mullahoran, the onus is, unusually, on the county"s strong batch of junior players to deliver. St Patrick"s clubman James Brady, a former US Nationals and World B singles finalist, is widely regarded as one of the top junior players in the province and he will start as one of the favourites for this year"s Ulster title. Ulster title 'I"m back training in the big court a couple of weeks now,' explains Brady. 'It"s a completely different game to 40x20, you use different shots and it"s a more natural game because you don"t need to wear gloves and goggles. I"m really looking forward to a crack at the Ulster title, there are some very good players in the draw but I"m quietly confident.' Ironically, some of Brady"s biggest rivals may be his own training partners. Brady will face stiff opposition in the likes of Patrick Clerkin and Padraig Cahill - the current 40x20 All Ireland Junior B doubles champions - as well as 'big alley' specialist Eddie Halligan. All three will also be in the Ulster race, along with a number of quality players from Tyrone, Donegal, Antrim and Monaghan. 'I"ll definitely need to watch out for the Cavan fellas as much as anyone else,' admits the 28 year old. 'Tyrone are very strong at the moment as well, I was beaten in the Ulster 40x20 final by Ruari Kelly from Tyrone and there are another few dangerous players up there. It will just be a matter of putting the work in in the alley to get ready for the challenge.' Court Action 2008 has been a momentous year for the sport in Cavan, with huge success both in and out of the court. The formation of the St Patrick"s club has given the game a new lease of life in the county town, and along with the progressive Kingscourt club and the newly reformed Virginia, handball is in very good health in Cavan right now. 'I got together with a few others and we decided to set up our own club last winter,' says the secretary. 'We have put a lot of work into setting up the juvenile side of things in St Pat"s and thankfully it has gone very well. We have run a couple of tournaments and we won a title at the Feile in Laois a few weeks ago, so it"s going very well. There are a few players who have shown great promise and I"m confident that we will see underage All Ireland titles coming back to Cavan in the near future.' Some of that All Ireland winning Feile team - Adrian Smith, Barry Fortune, Eoghan Martin, Jonathan Leddy, Cian O"Reilly and Senan Gilchreest - will be in action in the Ulster juvenile championships in the coming weeks, while the likes of James Galligan, Cathal Sheridan, John O"Grady, John McCabe, Ryan Brennan and Paul Woods will be expected to go well in the older juvenile grades. Cormac McMahon and Shane Grey will represent the county at minor level. 'We"re delighted with how things are going and we"re planning a lot more for next year,' says Brady. 'When the big court is over the school term will be starting in September and we hope to build on our success and get even more young fellas playing the game.'