Busy week for Leitrim Handball

In a busy weekend for Leitrim Handball, Juvenile players played at three different venues as part of the Connacht B Championship: Newport and Bofield in Mayo and Castleconnor in Sligo. 

In Newport Adam Neary and Eoin Mahen (U14 Doubles) from Annaduff gave it a good shot playing a Connacht final against two Galway lads who played superbly and never really let the Leitrim duo get into the game. 

In Bofield, Carlene Casserly (U11) played really well and did Drumshanbo proud with a very positive attitude, however Aoibh Johnston from Roscommon just had a little too much for her.  

Fenagh’s Ciara Conlon and Kayla Crinningan took a game and lost a game and narrowly lost out on the match. They are definitely good enough to win titles in the future. Lucy Boyle from Manorhamilton played very gamely against Sarah Boyle from Roscommon but the experience of the Roscommon player told and she pulled away.

In Castleconnor, Leitrim were well represented. First up were the U11 boys doubles and in their first time in a championship of this scale, Manorhamilton’s Bríon Cullen and Ronan Siebert showed great composure to score 7 and 9 in two games up to 15.

In the U11 singles Leitrim’s Senan McCabe beat Donal Watters of Sligo 15-8, 15-10. That was a very impressive quarter final victory and in the semi’s Senan met Adam Farrell of Roscommon who took the first game 15-9. Senan though was neck and neck in the second, only losing narrowly 15-13. 

It is probably true to say that having to play the QF first put Senan at a disadvantage but that was just the luck of the draw. Senan will be back next year with a wealth of experience.

One of the performances of the day was definitely Fenagh’s Ruari McKiernan v Jack Taylor in the U12. Ruari showed all his skills to win the match convincingly. Next up was Roscommon’s Michael Walsh and Ruari was on a roll winning the first match well. 

However Michael Walsh put in an impressive performance in the second game and took the game 15-13. Ruari fought the momentum in the third and the lead changed hands several times, however it was the Roscommon man who came out on top. 

Given that Ruari played five games on the day instead of three for the Roscommon man it’s easy to see how having to play the extra match can count against a player.

In the U12 doubles, Darragh Rowley and Eoghan Kelly of Annaduff gave a great account of themselves against Sligo’s Bobby Kavanagh and Eoin Commons, but the Sligo pair were just a little too strong this year. Darragh and Eoghan will be back next year ready to push up a gear.

In the U14, Leitrim’s Daniel Kane out played Sligo’s Michael Meehan in the first quarter final’s and went on to play Tiernan Hyland of Roscommon in the Semi’s. Daniel continued his good run with another win in the first game of the semi-final but lost out in the second. Daniel continued to play well and was the most solid off the back wall of the two players but Lisacul’s Hyland showed good composure to pip Daniel in the third. Truth be told there was nothing in it and Daniel will no doubt be challenging in the big court in a few week’s time.

Next up for Leitrim was Annaduff’s Gary Cox in the U15 boys who really stepped up to the mark against Adam O’Connor but the Sligo player who had a little more experience went on to take the match.

The final match of the day for Leitrim featured Marc MacSheera and Arró O’Reilly in the U13s against Sligo’s Noah Zakaria and Colm O’Brien. The Leitrim pairing have recently developed their partnership and they are getting stronger with every game. 

Sligo’s Zakaria and O’Brien played really well together but Marc MacSheera’s excellent back wall play and Arró’s reactions saw them progress to the finals in two week’s time in Mulranney. 

Also in the finals will be Sophie Gallogly and Ella Crinningan (U13 Doubles), Maxim Gilmartin (U13 S), Jesse Marsden U17 Singles. 

This week see's Cormac Scarff and Tadgh Kirwan play Galway in the U-15 Doubles final in Drumshanbo on Wednesday (TBC).  

Annaduff’s Benoit McKiernan was also in action this weekend alongside adult players Joel Smith, Ed Lee and Leo Logan but it is only Drumshanbo’s  Leo Logan who progresses to the next round of the championship.