Who would of thought it? Meath Handball is again at the top in every respect. Players from across the country fear us once again and dread the thought of being drawn against Royal County opposition in any competition. By Donnach MacUidhir. That is how I would describe how successful we have been in the last year. 2002 was a very quiet year for us with only one All-Ireland coming home to the Royal County. What a turn around it has been? At the start of the year, no-one expected the level of success and who would have blamed them! However, there were some within the county who knew what could be achieved and they set about putting the effort in, training the juveniles, entering all the competitions they could find and just having the willingness to make Meath once again an elite county in Handball! This year success has been plentiful, ranging from Titles in the 40x20 Court to 60x30 to One Wall and for the first time ever an Intervarsity Title. 40x20: Following the 40x20 season, pride of place has to go to Brian Carroll of Kells who won the All-Ireland Minor 40x20 singles as well as the All-Ireland Intermediate College Singles Titles. In the Minor final he defeated Damien Martin of Roscommon in a pulsating and absorbing final. Despite losing the first game 21-8, Brian stormed back and took the second and third games 21-14, 21-11. This is Brian's first Minor title and we all know it wont be his last! In the Colleges final, where he was representing Pobailscoil Chiaráin, he defeated Ger Coonan of Tipperary 21-17, 21-14. In the Senior competitions, Meath were again represented by Walter O'Connor (Gormanstown), Tom Sheridan (Kells), Egin Jensen (Rathmore) and David Gough (Rathmore). Although our players lost in the earlier rounds of the Singles Championship, they made up for it in the Doubles. Tom and Walter teamed up to reach the Doubles final where they unfortunately lost to Paul Brady and Michael Finnegan in the tie-breaker. Our other players who took part in the 40x20 championships were Michael McGee, Stephen Quinn (both Crossakiel), Donnachá Maguire, Carl Browne, Peter Reilly (all Kells), Christy Lynagh, Ollie Gough and Vincy Farrelly (all Rathmore) On the Ladies handball scene Meath was represented by Sinead Tevlin of Kells. She competed in the Ladies Minor Singles where she lost in the Leinster Final to Emer Fallon of Kildare. 60x30: Meath had considerable success in our native and best form of Handball. This year both of the Senior Championships came to Meath with Tom Sheridan taking the Red Bull All-Ireland Senior Softball Singles Title and again teaming up with Walter O'Connor to take the All-Ireland Senior Doubles Titles. On his way to taking the Singles championship Tom defeated the defending Champion Eoin Kennedy of Dublin. In the final, Tom played Walter in the first ever All-Meath final. However there had to be a winner and on the night in question no one was going to take it from Tom. This was only the second time the Senior Softball Singles came to Meath following Walters victory over Duxie Walsh in 1998. In the Doubles Championship they again took the trophy home with a convincing win over Colin Keeling and Tommy Hynes of Wexford 21-8, 21-10. This is their fifth title in six years and that record says it all! They are the greatest Doubles partnership of all time, FACT! In the Senior Singles Egin Jensen lost out to Colin Keeling of Wexford in the third game. In the Intermediate Championship, Carl Browne lost out in two Leinster finals i.e. singles and doubles. In the Singles final he lost out to Michael Gregan of Wicklow in the third game. Michael then went on to take the All-Ireland title. In the doubles, Carl teamed up with Peter Reilly and again fell at the final hurdle with a loss to Wicklow opponents once again. Francis Carroll lost out in the Leinster Silver Masters Final to Tony Breen in a very even and closely contested final in Tinryland. In the Diamond Masters Doubles Championship, Ollie Gough and Christy Lynagh lost out to Wicklow in the final on a very close scoreline. Our Masters players should be commended for continuing to play and most of all compete at a very high level. In the Junior Championship, Stephen Quinn reached the final of the Singles after having some great wins in the earlier rounds over Dublin and Kilkenny opposition. In the final he came very close to taking the crown home, however, it wasn't to be and fell to Pat O'Donnell of Wicklow. Brian Carroll, Donnachá Maguire, Sinead Tevlin and Vincy Farrelly all reached the semi-finals of their respective grades and with some more training will win these titles in the near future. One Wall: Yet again our players shone brightly at the Irish National One Wall Championships with two titles being brought home to Meath. In the Mens Open grade, Carl Browne defeated Vinnie Moran of Ballaghdereen in an epic final. He won the Tie Break 11-10 having rallied in the second game. In the Mens C Singles, Donnachá Maguire overcame Darren Flynn of Longford and again it took a third game thriller to separate them. One Wall is a game that can be played in every hall, gym and community centre in the County as the only things needed are balls and one wall. Surely it is a game which can be developed in Primary schools and ultimately increase the pool of players from which we form our County teams. Intervarsities: This year two Meath players took part in the All-Ireland 60x30 Intervarsity Championships held in Sligo I.T. in November. Both players took titles home to their respective Universities. Donnachá Maguire, representing University Of Limerick, won the Mens B Singles with a convincing win over Steven Cass. In the Plate Competition, Eugene O'Reilly of D.C.U defeated Dermot Reynolds of U.C.D, 15-5, 15-8. Hardball: This very ancient yet exciting game came back to the fore this year with an increased entry in all the divisions. In the Mens Senior Singles, Meath was represented by Carl Browne and Peter Reilly and they both aquitted themselves very well by reaching the Semi Finals. Carl lost out to Kildare opposition while Peter had to face Eoin Kennedy who ultimately won it out. Donnachá Maguire and Conor O'Connor teamed up in the Junior Doubles but unluckily lost in the quarter finals in the third game against Kildare opposition. Brian Carroll reached the final of the Minor Singles but was unlucky to lose out to a more experienced hardballer in the shape of Robbie Mc Carthy of Wesmeath. With another year at this level Brian will surely make a concerted effort to take the title. World Championships 2003: I could write a book about the World Championships as our players did extremely well in all divisions. However, I'm going to briefly summarise our players performance as I would give myself a headache if I did otherwise! In the Girls 19&Under Doubles, Joy Smith teamed up with Maria Daly of Kerry to defeat Emer Coyle and Nicola Kelly of Roscommon, 21-8, 21-10. Joy has been our most successful ladies handballer and is sure to continue on her winning ways. In the Mens Open Doubles, Tom and Walter reached the final only to lose again to Paul Brady and Michael Finnegan on a close scoreline. In the singles, Walter lost in the quarter finals to Tony Healy 21-12, 21-14. In the Boys 17&Under Meath was represented by Brian Carroll. He did extremely well to reach the final of both the singles and doubles but was on the losing end in both. He was defeated by Robbie Mc Carthy(Westmeath) in the singles on a scoreline of 21-19, 21-16. In the doubles, Brian teamed up with Ger Coonan of Tipperary but again lost out to Robbie Mc Carthy who teamed up with Delvin native John O'Shaughnessy. Gary Mc Connell of Kells reached the final of the Boys 13&Under singles but was unfortunate to lose out in the tiebreaker to Michael Lawlor of Limerick. Gary is a real prospect for the future and hopes are high for more success. Joy Smith reached the final of the Singles but lost to her doubles partner Maria Daly, 21-12, 21-11. In the Mens A Championship, Carl Browne and Peter Reilly reached the quarters of the Singles as well as the doubles. In the Doubles they lost to John Mc Garry and Paddy Crothers of Antrim. While in the Singles Carl lost to Joe Mc Cann of Mayo and Peter fell to Owen Mc Kenna of Antrim. In the C Division, good performances were achieved by Conor O'Connor and Ciaran Mc Callan of Gormanstown. While in the Boys 19&Under, Donancha Maguire lost to Damian Martin of Roscommon in the quarter-finals of the singles. Sinead Tevlin lost in the semi finals of both the singles and doubles in the Girls 17&Under. Juvenile Handball: During 2003 our juveniles once again did the county proud taking two provincial titles and taking runner up in another. At the start of the year, trials were held to choose the county players. Although only one club sent in juveniles to take part the standard was exceptionally high with games having to be decided in tie breakers. With 34 players in the Under 12 grade, we knew that the player to win this grade would have a fair go at taking the provincial title. We were proven right, Gary Mc Connell of Kells won the right to represent his county and he did us very proud by winning the Leinster Under 12 Singles against Carlow opposition (John Kenny of Garryhill) 15-8, 15-5. In the Boys Under 13 Singles, Jamie Browne reached the final only to lose to Wicklow opposition in a very keenly contested match. Our Under 13 Doubles partnership of Declan Clarke and Conor Mc Manus made some waves by beating all round them to take the provincial title with ease. In the final they defeated Wicklow 15-8, 15-9. Our Under 12 doubles, Cormac Keegan and Jason Coleman put up a good show to reach the semis but were unfortunate not to defeat Wexford. Daniel Carry did well in his first Championship outing but came up against strong opposition in the Under 15 Singles. Also, Karl Rogers was unlucky in the Under 14 Singles and with some training will be a prospect for the future. Meath entered a team in the Under 12/13 Team event and did very well to reach the final where unfortunately they came up against a strong and experienced Kilkenny team. However, the signs are there that more titles will come to Meath in the near future. The was composed of Gary Mc Connell, Cormac Keegan, Jason Coleman, Jamie Browne, Declan Clarke, Conor Mc Manus (all Kells). In 2003, Meath along with Kildare and Westmeath hosted Feile na nGael and it was a tremendous success with the Kells Team reaching the final of the Buachailli Roinn 2. They came up against Naomh Mhuire of Leixlip and lost out narrowly in the tie break. The team (Gary Mc Connell, Jamie Browne, Declan Clarke, Conor Mc Manus and Karl Rogers) can be proud of themselves as they are at least a year younger than their counterparts and hopes are high that the title will once again come home to Kells. As a final not on juvenile handball, ALL clubs need to be active in the areas of underage handball and it can not be left to one club alone to carry the burden of producing juvenile handballers. By simply running a competition in the local primary schools a club can increase its membership two fold. It's as simple as that! Interclub St. Colmcille's (Kells) had a great win in the All-Ireland Interclub Open 60x30 final over an impressive Ballaghdereen team. Held during the summer, Kells won all the games up to the final with ease but there was a battle royal in store for them in the final in Mullingar. In the first game Peter Reilly fought bravely against Dessie Keegan, the defending Intermediate Champion but lost 21-7 21-7. In the doubles, Francis Carroll and the legendary Tom Sheridan destroyed Vinnie Moran and Cambell Brennan 21-11,21-0 to set up a very interesting third game between Carl Browne and Joe Mc Cann. Joe Mc Cann took the first game on a scoreline of 21-18 making it all square on the night. All looked lost for Kells when Joe raced into a 17-7 lead needing only one more point for victory. However Browne had other ideas. Spurred on by the many Kells supporters who had travelled he rallied and rallied until it was level at 17 each. Browne lost serve and once again Mc Cann served for Championship victory. Again Browne fought back to retrieve serve and it was him who now had the scent of victory. With four good serves and two excellent kills, Browne finished off Mc Cann and indeed Ballaghdereen to bring home the Senior Interclub title to Kells for the first time in five years. What a day to remember especially for Browne! Message from An Cathaoirleach, Walter O'Connor I'd like to thank all those involved in Meath Handball especially the trainers who put so much time and effort into everything they do. Congratulations to Brian and Tom on winning their titles. It's great to see new blood coming into the sport in Meath and if anyone wishes to get involved don't hesitate to contact us through our PRO at [email protected] . To everyone, thanks for making this year one of the best ever and lets hope it continues on into 2004. Our new website is now up and running, www.gaa.ie/meath/handball.htm so visit us for all info regarding the Perfect Game in Meath. Go raibh maith agat as ucht de do chomh oibriu I rith an bhlian agus tá suil again go mbeidh Nollaig deas agus siochain agaibh. Go n-eiri an bothar libhse! Tweet

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