Doherty & Boyle claim Connacht title in style

Johnny Doherty and Peter Boyle won the U17 Connacht B Handball Championship in Castleconnor on Sunday. That crowned a very good day for Leitrim handball with the boys' team taking home two golds and seven silvers and the girls taking home four silvers. 

In Collooney, Lucy Boyle and Noleen McKiernan battled bravely in the U15 Girls against Galway opposition and nearly took them by surprise but the Galway duo were too strong for them.

Katie Kane met a very good handballer from Mayo and while Katie pushed her to the limit in the first, the Mayo girl managed to pull away in what was a very good game for spectators. Nóra Smith got a powerful serve going against her Mayo opposition and the 21-13 scoreline didn't do justice to her tenacity. The experienced Mayo girl pulled away in the second but in her debut performance in Connacht it was very encouraging for Nóra.  

Connacht U15 doubles silver medalists Lucy Boyle and Noleen McKiernan

In Castleconnor, first up for Leitrim were Dara Nolan and Conor McCabe against Mayo's Matthew Foody and Jack O'Connor in the U13 doubles but the Mayo pair proved too strong. However, the Drumshanbo pair will be back next year armed with the experience from this year. 

Cormac Scarff and Tadhg Kirwan have learnt a lot this year from competition. Having won the Leitrim U14 Doubles comfortably, they faced a very good team from Mayo. The first game was in the balance, but the Mayo pair won the first game 15,8 before taking control in the second 15,4. 

In the U15 Singles, Senan McGowan came up against a very physical Sean Foody from Mayo who used his power to good effect to take the games. 

Óisin McGarry and Adam Cull from Drumshanbo faced a very strong Galway pair in the U15 Doubles and the Galway men had an answer for everything that Leitrim could throw at them, however the Leitrim players will be better handballers for the experience. 

Leitrim's Nora Smith with Mayo's Leitrim's Shauna Hallinan

In the final match of the day, it was Peter Boyle and Johnny Doherty who faced a stiff test from Roscommon’s Sean Cattigan and Sean Hall. This game was played with the adult ball with two games of 21 aces and a potential tie breaker to 11 so it was a big step up for the Manorhamilton club duo. 

Boyle and Doherty played brilliantly to close out the first game 21-13 but the longer the second game went on, the stronger the Roscommon pair became. It took a series of lovely balls off the back wall for Johnny and two kills from Peter to turn the game and they came out eventual winners 21-17 in the second. 

It was a great day for Leitrim handball and a proud day for Glencar Manorhamilton Handball Club in its first year competing at this level.