Handballers qualify for All-Ireland finals

Paul Fitzpatrick

Cavan will have a shot at landing two juvenile All-Ireland handball titles in a fortnight’s time following successes this morning in the U15 and U16 Doubles All-Ireland semi-finals.

In U15 Doubles, Niall Magee and Matthew Smith, who play football for Cuchulainns and Ramor United respectively and are members of Kingscourt Handball Club, had a comfortable 15-5, 15-0 win over Wexford’s Conor Horan and Shane Kehoe.

Both Cavan lads played well, with Magee serving impressively and Smith killing consistently on the right. They will meet either Clare or Mayo in the final which is also taking place in their home court in two weeks’ time.

Meanwhile, another Ramor-Cuchulainns duo, also representing Kingscourt HC, pulled off a huge win in the U16 Doubles. Last year’s All-Ireland U14 Doubles winners Oliver McCrystal and Adam McKenna were up against the previous year’s champions in Daniel Hanrahan and Thomas Sharkey.

The Cavan lads started well and raced into a 6-0 lead with McCrystal on fire before Kilkenny drew level at 12. However, some spectacular kills from McKenna saw them home 21-12 and a similar pattern followed in game two, with both players upping their game at the crucial time to take it 21-13.

The U16s will now meet either Cork or Sligo in their final as they too look to end a long wait for this particular title.

Cavan has only won the U15 Doubles All-Ireland once and that was back in 1991 when Ciaran McDonald and Philip Galligan took the honours and has won the U16 Doubles crown twice, Paul Brady and the late Paraic Kiernan in 1995 and Michael Finnegan and Raymond Cunningham five years earlier.