The future of handball in the county rests with its young players and there was sufficient evidence during 2011 to suggest that plenty of talented under-age exponents are being produced who will help to maintain Meath's proud tradition in the sport.

Among them is Evan Sheridan from Kells, a son of one of the county's finest players of all time, Tom. He enjoyed a great year which was highlighted by his victory in the All-Ireland under-15 singles final where he beat Aidan Kerins from Cork at Hospital, Co Limerick. Sheridan stamped his class on proceedings by winning the first game 15-6 and completed the job by taking the second 15-8.
Sheridan had clinched the Leinster title with a 15-3, 15-11 victory over Carlow's Jim O'Leary and accounted for Monaghan's Eugene McGeough 15-10, 15-13 in a well-contested All-Ireland semi-final.

Earlier in the year Evan had teamed up with his cousin Dylan to win the All-Ireland under-15 doubles title. They reached the decider with a semi-final victory over Monaghan duo Ramunas Ramauskas and Mantas Zalikas and came face to face with Jacob Loughnane and Ciaran Cooney from Clare in the final at Crinkle.
The Kells lads appeared to be in trouble when they were well beaten 5-15 in the opening game, but they demonstrated their true worth by battling back very well to take the second 15-9 after the pairings had earlier been tied at 8-8. They asserted their authority in the deciding game by opening up a very healthy 9-1 advantage and pushed on to win it 15-4 and clinch the national title.

Apart from Evan Sheridan's victory in the under-15 singles, Meath enjoyed other successes in the Leinster Juvenile Championship finals. Robert Fox and Dylan Sheridan beat Joey Curtis and David Nolan (Carlow) 15-13, 15-12 in the under-15 doubles, Peter Smith defeated Sean Muddiman (Kildare) 15-12, 15-6 in the under-13 singles and Daniel Farrelly and Danny Dunne got the better of Patrick Boland and Adam Walsh (Wexford) 15-8, 15-9 in the under-12 doubles.
Evan Sheridan also reached the All-Ireland under-15 60x30 doubles final during the summer when he teamed up with fellow Kells player Robert Fox, but they suffered a narrow defeat.

The Meath team of Evan Sheridan, Robert Fox, Johnny McGovern, Danny Dunne and Peter Smith, which was coached by Christy McGovern, won the Leinster under-15 Feile title. But there was disappointment when they lost the All-Ireland final to a very strong Tyrone team, 45-78.
In the Boys' Second Level Colleges' 40x20 Championship Robert Fox and Evan Sheridan reached the final with a 21-17, 21-14 semi-final victory over Kiltimagh pairing TJ Byrne and Shane Walsh, but there was disappointment for the Meath duo in the decider when they were beaten 19-21, 13-21 by Daniel Hayes and Padraig O'Donoghue from Cashel Community School.

St Ciaran's, Kells, achieved a notable double later in the year when Evan Sheridan defeated Darragh Mulkerrins of St Mary's College, Galway, 15-4, 15-13 in the All-Ireland Colleges' 60x30 junior singles final and Robert Fox and Johnny McGovern beat Ryan Mullan and Niall Allison from Omagh CBS 15-11, 15-12 in the junior doubles decider. Both finals were played in Kells.
Back to the team competition front, there was a notable success for Kells in the All-Ireland Junior B 40x20 Championship. The team of Peter Reilly, Michael Sheridan, Christy McGovern and Peter Flanagan reached the All-Ireland final with a hard-earned semi-final victory over St Coman's of Roscommon in Mullingar.

The 109-94 win earned them a place in the decider against St Mellan's from Monaghan at Bawn Handball Club in Monaghan and the Kells men finished the job in style to win their first All-Ireland title in the grade.Reilly defeated Christopher McKenna 21-10, 21-10, before Sheridan and McGovern beat Conor McGinnity and Ian Treanor 21-5, 21-7. That left Kells with an unassailable lead, so there was no need for Flanagan to play his match against Eamon Todd.

However, there was disappointment for the Kells senior team of Carl Browne, Gary McConnell, Tom Sheridan, Brian Carroll and Peter Reilly when they lost the All-Ireland Inter-Club final to Ballaghaderreen from Mayo in Mullingar.
Jimmy Reilly and Anthony McConnell continue to proudly fly the Kells flag in the Masters' competitions and among the successes the pair enjoyed in 2011 was a noteworthy victory in the All-Ireland Golden Masters 60x30 Doubles Championship in September.
They had earlier clinched the Leinster title with a 21-14, 21-9 victory over Johnny Brennan and Joe Hennessy of Kilkenny in the final and took a giant step towards national glory when they defeated Mickeleen Brady and Ben Corr from Cavan in the All-Ireland semi-final, 21-1, 21-2.

The All-Ireland title was clinched at Crinkle where Reilly and McConnell had to work hard to see off the challenge of Tipperary duo Tony O'Flaherty and Pat Griffin. The Munster pairing won the opening game 21-16, but the Kells men recovered to win the second 21-10, before shading the verdict in the third, 21-19.
A couple of months earlier Reilly and McConnell had brought further national honours to the Kells club when they defeated Kilkenny's Seamus Reade and Paddy Reilly in straight sets in the final, 21-13, 21-12.

Reilly also enjoyed a good campaign on the singles front, earning Masters Championship success at provincial and national level. His dedication to the game has to be greatly admired.
Meath is well catered for in the masters' competitions where Tom Sheridan was always going to be a major player once he reached the required age. In the hardball division Sheridan beat Mick Dowling of Kildare in the singles final at the Na Fianna club in Dublin, 21-18, 21-1.

And when he teamed up with Christy McGovern they won the All-Ireland Masters hardball doubled title in a tight final against Frank Daly and Egin Jensen of Dublin. They lost the opening game 20-21, but battled back well to win the second 21-13 and then clinched the match by taking the third 21-19.

Tom Sheridan and Brian Carroll's dream of winning the All-Ireland 40x20 senior double title was shattered at Kingscourt when they put up a very brave fight against hot favourites Paul Brady and Michael Finnegan (Cavan), but lost out in straight sets. Sheridan celebrated his 42nd birthday on the day.

There was further disappointment for Sheridan and Carroll when they surrendered their All-Ireland 60x30 doubles title, again losing to Brady and Finnegan. The Cavan duo won the quarter-final at Mullingar in straight sets, 21-16, 21-16.
Gary McConnell teamed up with Peter Reilly to win the Leinster intermediate 60x30 doubles title with a 21-15, 20-21, 21-7 victory over Kilkenny pairing William and Daniel Love in the final and McConnell made it a double a matter of days later when he clinched the provincial singles crown.

He advanced to the final with a 21-10, 21-20 victory over Ian Griffin from Dublin and completed the job two nights later when he got the better of Wexford's Cormac Smyth in the decider, 21-9, 21-11.
McConnell and Reilly lost the All-Ireland doubles final to Roscommon's Aengus Cunningham and Chris Doolan at Abbeylara, 21-4, 19-21, 11-21 and McConnell suffered more All-Ireland final misery when he lost the singles decider to Cork's Colm Jordan at Williamstown, 14-21, 21-13, 12-21.

There was also Leinster success for Peter Flanagan when he defeated David Kenny (Wexford) in the Junior B final, 21-8, 21-11, but he later lost the All-Ireland decider to Tipperary's David Hickey, 12-21, 21-16, 9-21.
At the All-Ireland 60x30 finals Sheridan teamed up with Michael 'Duxie' Walsh of Kilkenny. They defeated Dessie Keegan and Joe McCann of Mayo 11-4 in the tie-breaker at the semi-final stage, but lost the final 17-21, 20-21.
But there was success for Gary McConnell who teamed up with Fergal Collins (Tipperary) in the under-23 doubles. They beat Martin Mulkerrins and Niall O'Connor at the penultimate hurdle and completed the job with a thrilling 21-20, 21-20 win over CJ Fitzpatrick and Padraig O'Carroll of Limerick in the final.

Another success was achieved by Jimmy Reilly and Anthony McConnell who won the Golden Masters title with a 21-13, 21-12 victory over Kilkenny's Seamus Reade and Paddy Reilly in the final.
Carl Browne enjoyed provincial success back in the spring when he defeated Nicholas Anthony of Kilkenny in the Leinster intermediate singles final, but when it came to the All-Ireland series he was beaten 12-21, 10-21 by Tyrone's Ruairi Kelly at the semi-final hurdle.

Tom Sheridan won the 40x20 open singles title at the World Police and Fire Games in New York. He teamed up with Michael Sheridan in the open doubles where they reached the final, but lost to Paddy Donovan (Laois) and Michael O'Brien (Offaly).

There was a very proud day for the O'Connor family from the Kentstown area in early May when Walter took over as national handball president at a rescheduled annual congress in Kells. He replaced Roscommon's Tony Hannon who had completed his three-year term.
O'Connor's election as president coincided with a name change for the organisation which is now known as GAA Handball Ireland after delegates at the congress unanimously passed a motion on the agenda.

There is no doubt that O'Connor is a worthy holder of the position of national president because he has been involved with the game since the age of four and comes from a family rich in the handball tradition. He spoke passionately about the influence his family had on his great interest in the game and thanked those who had provided the inspiration for him in his bid to become national president.
Congress weekend provided the setting for the Irish National finals where there were a couple of Meath successes. Tom Sheridan won the masters singles championship with a 21-4, 21-8 victory over Tyrone's Niall Kerr and Christy McGovern took the masters B singles title when he beat Damien Kelly of Wexford 21-8, 21-13.

There was disappointment for Peter Flanagan when he lost the men's C singles final to Carlow's Daniel Fenlon, 9-21, 4-21, and James Reilly who was beaten 11-21, 18-21 by John Cawley of Clare in the Golden Masters B singles decider.
The Kells club staged a highly successful Michael Black Memorial Tournament during early summer and local player Brian Carroll teamed up with Mullingar's Robbie McCarthy to achieve outright success with a 21-20, 21-9 final victory over Eoin Kennedy and Gavin Buggy. Tweet

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