The heady times continue for the handballers of Cavan with more All-Ireland success coming in all different levels and codes in 2010. Again it was world number one Paul Brady that was the leading light as the Mullahoran man collected every prize that was available to him this past year and looks set to continue the trend for some time to come. 

After becoming the first handballer in history to win a third consecutive Worlds Singles' title at the close of the 2009 season, Brady continued where he left off at the start of this year having recovered from his well-documented quad muscle injury, which saw him take a ten-minute time out in the tie-breaker of the World Championship final before finally seeing off Texan Allan Garner on an 11-7 score-line to retain his crown.
After that the dual star went into recovery mode and by mid-April he was back fit and contesting another major final - this time in his home county. Brady again made history for Cavan on April 10, 2010 when he defeated Armagh's Charly Shanks in Kingscourt to capture his seventh All-Ireland 40x20 Senior Singles title and sixth in-a-row.
Brady had to fight all the way early on to retain the title, as he was pushed by Shanks in the first game before running out a comfortable winner by 21-17, 21-6. The Armagh man had led 10-9 early on, but Brady regained the composure needed pulling off some brilliant kills and pass-shots to be just one game away. In the second game, the champion raced into a dominant 17-2 advantage and despite a brave late rally from Shanks, Brady would always have enough after that to see out the victory.
The win saw the 30-year-old equal the record of Kilkenny legend Ducksy Walsh of seven titles and Patsy Kirby's six-in-a-row and he told national media afterwards that his goals to break record was what kept him motivated.
"I suppose just having goals keeps me motivated," said Brady. "Like I say, people just think Paul Brady's playing, he'll win' as if the other players aren't trying - it's not that simple. Each one of those titles took as much effort as it took for Tyrone to win the football All-Ireland but people take that for granted.
"That doesn't bother me, it's not relevant…This is a personal journey, I don't really care what people this, it's about myself trying to push my mind and body as far as I can go.
"I probably wasn't as hungry as before, it became as apparent to me when I saw how hungry he (Shanks) was. Maybe a loss would re-invigorate things but I don't want that to happen. I have to try to remind myself of the last loss here in 2004 or the most recent loss 18 months ago in that tournament in America…Obviously he was going to be more hungry than I was because I was after giving him a pretty bad beating six weeks previously."
Two weeks later and Brady was back on the All-Ireland final stage when he and doubles partner Michael Finnegan took on Mayo's Dessie Keegan and Joe McCann in the 40x20 Senior Doubles final in St Colman's, Roscommon.
Raw after last year's shock defeat to the Mayo duo, Cavan opened a 6-0 lead in the first game with Finnegan's strong serve and Brady's consistent killing doing the trick. The Breffni men would end up taking the opening game 21-11, but the second game would prove a much tighter affair. Determined not to lose their title, Mayo led 1-6 when Brady struck a flat kill from centre court which helped turn things Cavan's way as they moved into a 13-12 lead. After that Cavan finished the game in style with Brady rolling out a few and tremendous crack serve from Finnegan leading Kingscourt/Mullahoran combo back to their coveted title.
Come May the first weekend in May, Brady had his seat on the flight to Texas for the June US Nationals booked after defeating Dublin's Eoin Kennedy in the Men's Open final at the GAA Handball Nationals in Kingscourt.
Brady's form had been at its brilliant-best all weekend long as he came through a difficult-looking draw with ease to oust Cork's Tony Healy and Californian Emmet Peixoto on route to the final, while doubles partner Finnegan was forced to withdraw from the tournament with illness. Kill's Patrick Clerkin and James Brady of Mullahoran also showed up well in the B Singles division in an event that was well-hosted by the Kingscourt club, led by Kit and Catherine Finnegan.
In the Men's Open final, Brady was once again relentless as he kill-shots in the first game came from all different angles of the court and unfortunately for Kennedy 'The Gunner' was in similar form in the second game to cruise to the title and go on to represent Ireland at the US Nationals is Austin, Texas.
In 'The Lone Star State', the world champion's play was simply devastating as he kept every one of his opponents to singles digits, which included three top American pros in Andy Nett (Minnesota), David Fink (Pennsylvania) and rising star Luis Moreno (Arizona) on route to the final.
In the decider, Brady defeated long-time rival David Chapman of Missouri for the second successive season, controlling both games from start to finish to come away with a 21-8 to 21-9 victory and a sixth consecutive US Nationals crown. It capped-off a brilliant weekend for Brady, who learned of Cavan's spectacular win over Wicklow in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers after the final.
"It was a fantastic weekend for me really - I was delighted that the lads won because it was hard missing that game, and also thrilled that I was able to take my sixth US Nationals title," he said.
"That has been my goal since the beginning of the season; I've worked hard for it, but I'll go back home now and give my full attention to football."
The victory over Chapman would bring down the curtain on another successful season for Brady, as he now focuses on 2011 and his bids to break the record of Ducksy Walsh for All-Ireland titles, with one eye sure to be on another triumph in the US Nationals.  

Brady and Clerkin clinch doubles glory
In April, Cavan duo James Brady and Patrick Clerkin made their breakthrough to the Intermediate ranks when they defeated Roscommon in the All-Ireland 40x20 Junior Doubles final in Abbeylara.
Both players had been in fine form heading into the final, but were unusually off-key in the opening game against Cormac O'Brien and Philip O'Connor, as the Rossies took the first game 21-9 to mount the pressure on the Breffni pair. In a close second game, Brady and Clerkin began to discover some of the winning form which had got them to the decider and forced a tie-breaker with a 21-16 win.
In the third game, the St Pat's duo played to their potential as Brady's speed and reaction around the front court and Clerkin's awesome flat kills saw them take the advantage early on and move into a 12-4 lead. To their credit, Roscommon fought back well but when Cavan won back their serve three aces in-a-row led them to the title.
"I'm absolutely delighted," Brady stated after the final. "We've worked very hard for a few years and it's great to finally get our reward here."
The success wouldn't stop there either for Mullahoran/Kill partnership, with an Ulster junior title to come in the 60x30 competition, which would eventually lead Cavan to another All-Ireland final, finishing runners up in the end.  

Sheridan wins first All-Ireland
One-wall fever swept Cavan handball this past summer, with the opening of a new one-wall court at Kingspan Breffni Park attracting players from all across the county to take up the code.
The official opening of the new one-wall court took place on May 3 and was performed by Ulster Council President and Drumgoon native Aogan Farrell, with GAA President Christy Cooney in attendance, and a doubles competition final to follow between Padraig Cahill/Shane Corrigan and Paul Fitzpatrick/Fintan Creamer, with the latter two clinching the win after a tie-breaker. Three of those four would travel to Breaffy House in Mayo to compete in the hugely successful Irish One-Wall Nationals.
However, from a Cavan perspective, the real success story of the tournament would be the achievement of 18-year-old left-hander Marcus Sheridan in the Challenger grade. The Cavan Gaels dual player, who is a son of well-known champions Dominic, came through five rounds to reach the final, where he fought off the challenge of Roscommon's Jarlath Coyle with some clever serving and superb kills at crucial stages to claim the title.
"Marcus is a fine young player with a bright future in the game," said Irish Handball Council Manager Chris Curran.
"It's great to see a new generation of players emerging in Cavan."
Curran was spot on at that. Among the other young Breffni competitors that travelled to the Castlebar for the weekend were St Pat's trio James Galligan (Lacken), Cathal Sheridan (Kildallan) and Daryl Dunne (Killygarry), who all competed well in the minor grade. Experienced junior player Eddie Halligan scored two wins in C Singles division, as did Shane Corrigan in the Challenger, while Paul Fitzpatrick pushed eventual Open winner Charly Shanks to his closest game in their opener.  

County Championships another
huge success
This year's county 40x20 Junior Championship was another major success, which saw a huge entry for the event in late January.
Redhills native Paul Fitzpatrick captured the junior title after defeating James Brady of Mullahoran in a thrilling final in Kingscourt. The St Pat's players went head-to-head after display some terrific form in the early rounds and it was Fitzpatrick that took the first game 21-16. Never willing to throw-in the towel, Brady hit back in the second game and came through on the same score-line to force a tie-breaker. Brady continued where he left off and looked certain to scoop the title after going 6-0 up in a game to 11, but Fitzpatrick showed some terrific resolve to find kills at the right time to clinch the title by two points, 11-9.
In the Junior B decider, Brendan McCormack defeated fellow Kingscourt man Cormac McMahon after an entertaining tie-break, which finished 21-16. In the Minor Singles final Ballyhaise's Ryan Brennan and Joe Dillion (Kingscourt) met, with the latter having to pull out all the stops, as Brennan claimed the first game 21-13 before Dillon hit form in game two to win 21-7 and eventually won the tie-breaker 11-2.
In the Under 16 grade, Eoghan Martin came out on the right side of an 11-7 tie-breaker against Adrian Smith, who had reached the Under 15 doubles All-Ireland final the year previous. At Under 14 level, Luke O'Dea proved too strong for Ben Conaty in their respective final.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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