Ballina move towards Open title ambition
December 09, 2011The Munster champions had signalled their pedigree when they ousted Connaught victors, Williamstown in the last four and they carried that momentum into the showdown match to defeat Coolboy by 45 points, 104 to 59.
Ballina has made great strides forward as a club both on and off the court since 2000 and have made the jump from junior to senior in just a matter of a few seasons. They scooped the club of the year accolade a decade ago and they haven't looked back ever since with many of their players, namely Fergal Collins and Ger Coonan bagging many Nationals titles across the board.
"It's brilliant for the club. A few years back we won the junior club championship and now winning the intermediate shows we have brought the club to another level so we're all delighted with the win and hopefully we can keep going in the same direction," said former 19 and under USA winner, Collins.
"We won the junior big alley club in 2003 and back in 2001 Ballina won the club of the year and we have won 2 Munster senior club titles. There's great work going on at underage level and hopefully we can get back to that level and go past it in the near future."
Collins helped fashion an advantage in the final after the opening singles match while the doubles pairing of Mike Carroll and Martin McInerney continued to keep the Tipperary side on top going into the remaining singles fixture. Then former All-Ireland under 21 champion, Ger Coonan produced an impressive performance to help seal the intermediate club title and secure senior status for 2012.
"I think we all played to our potential at the weekend. I went in first and was lucky enough to have us ahead going into the doubles. Then Mike Carroll and Martin Mc Inerney went in and they are a strong doubles team. They were always going to hold their own and they were playing really well together and were well in control in both their matches so they gave us a strong lead. Then it was left to Ger Coonan to finish the job and he was more than capable of making whatever amount of points we needed him to get and he played excellent handball to finish it for us."
Collins who captured the Mens A singles at the 2009 US Nationals and qualified for a Pro Stop in 2010 in Minnesota in the elite grade will now be hoping that his club can challenge for the senior club series next year.
"Going forward, we hope to win more titles at juvenile level bringing more talent through and hopefully we can challenge the top clubs in the country for the senior title."
After reflecting on the past twelve months, Collins is now ready to contest for silverware at the World Championships, scheduled for Dublin next October.
"I was happy with my year. I had some results go the wrong way and a few nice wins also so I'm looking forward to 2012 which looks like its going to be a big year for handball here in Ireland with the world championships."
"I'll be hoping to compete well in all the different competitions leading up to the worlds and hopefully there will be a 23 and under division and I'll hope to do my best in that."
RESULT: 2011 INTERMEDIATE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Sunday 4th December 2011, in Kingscourt, Cavan: SF1: Ulster v Leinster:
Coolboy, Wicklow (Jerome Willoughby, Michael Lennon, Pat Quaile, Keith Kavanagh) dft
St. Patrick's, Cavan (Paul Fitzpatrick, Padraig Cahill, Eddie Halligan, Patrick Clerkin & James Brady) SF2: Munster v Connacht: Ballina, Tipperary (Fergal Collins, Mike Carroll Martin McInerney, Ger Coonan) dft Williamstown, Galway (Ollie Conway, Pat Conway, Declan Connaughton, Noel McHugh). FINAL: Ballina dft Coolboy 104 - 59 Tweet
