All roads lead to Kingscourt for start of Ulster Singles

Handball

There is a huge weekend of action for local players in the Ulster Handball Championshipos as excitement builds for the long-awaited return of competitive 40x20 handball for Junior and Junior B players.

The action serves off in Kingscourt on Friday evening as James Brennan (Kingscourt) takes on Oisin Hagan (Monaghan) and Michael Smith (Virginia) meets Sean Reilly (Armagh) in the preliminary round of the Ulster Junior B Singles.

The first round proper is down for decision at the same venue on Sunday afternoon.

Niall McMahon, Diego Di Folco, Conor Owens and Adam Crosbie (all Kingscourt) face Brian McAleer (Tyrone), Conor Holohan (Monaghan), Piarais McCaffrey (Antrim) and the winner of Smith/Reilly respectively.

Also in action are two county footballers, St Pat’s clubmen Stephen Smith and Cian McManus whose opponents are Dermot Boyle (Monaghan) and Peter Carleton (Antrim) respectively.

The quarter-finals of this grade take place on Saturday, February 5 in Breacach, Co Tyrone, who will also host the remaining rounds.

Meanwhile, in the Junior A Singles, top seed Cormac McMahon (Kingscourt) has a bye in the first round. He will meet the winner of Tyrone’s Barry Devlin and St Pat’s right-hander Caolán Smith, who meet this Sunday in Kingscourt.

Kingscourt Stars footballer Joe Dillon takes on Cahir Munroe of Tyrone, also on Sunday, with Paul Fitzpatrick meeting Gary McElroy from the Bawn club in Monaghan.

There were serious concerns about the state of the game due to the ongoing restrictions and while they have had a negative effect on juvenile development, at adult level, handball has bounced back well with large numbers competing in the county at present and the courts at Kingscourt, St Pat’s and Munterconnaught getting lots of use.

A number of local players will also be in action in the Irish National in Belfast at the end of the month while the Ulster doubles will also serve off in the coming weeks.

All in all, hopes are high that a number of Ulster titles will come back to the county, with the likes of Joe Dillon, Caolán Smith, Cian McManus, Adam Crosbie and Conor Owens among the main contenders at Junior B and Junior A levels.

Also in with a big chance in the Masters B grade is Dwayne Leggett (Kilnaleck), holder of numerous titles at underage level, who is back competing and has shown that class is very much permanent.