County Roscommon Handball Round-up

January 21, 2013
Connacht Mens Senior 40X20 Championship
The top senior men handballers in Connacht were on show in Moycullen, Galway over last weekend.  Stephen Cooney beat Neil McDermoot (Ballymoe, Roscommon) on the way to the final while Mulkerrins took care of Vinnie Moran (Ballaghadreen) and Rikki O'Gara (St.Comans) to make it to Sundays final against Cooney. Cooney played well in the first game with some very impressive "gets" to nearly take it but Mulkerrins roared on by half the parish took the game 21-20.  It must have been a real psychological win for Mulkerrins to take the first game as he came into game two and took a 10-1 lead before Cooney began to play.  In fairness to Cooney he never gave up but on the day Mulkerrins played the better handball and was really revved up by the home crowd to take game two and the match 21-4.  There was talk in the crowd after the match that Cooney had a small injury to his hand which might be true of the second game performance but anyways all these players will get a second bite at the cherry when they now play in the All-Ireland Mens Open Championship which means all senior mens players in Ireland are put into an "Open" draw where World Number one seed will be Cavans Paul Brady where he will be top seed so no player will want to meet him in their first match.  Local players Rikki O'Gara and Damien Martin from St. Comans and Neil McDermott (Ballymoe) will now play in this grade. Best of luck to these players.
 
CONNACHT All Star Award Winners 2012
 
Congratulations to the following Roscommon players and officials who have won the Connacht All-Star award in the grades listed below.  These players and officials will now be present at the All-Ireland All-Star awards ceremony to be held in Croke Park in February.
Official of the Year: John Kennedy (Roscommon): John has being doing a fantastic job as secretary of Roscommon County handball board for the last number of years.  He is very well respected in handball circles not only in Roscommon but all over Connacht also and it is his peers from various clubs throughout every county in Connacht that voted for John in this category. A well deserved award for the Ballymoe man.
Club Person of the Year: Liam O'Ceallaigh (Roscommon): Well done to Liam O'Ceallaigh also on winning the club person of the year award for his hard work in the on-going development of handball in Mount Talbot.
Masters Player of the Year: James Coughlan (Roscommon): James had  a very good year in 2012 having captured the Golden Masters "B" All-Ireland 60X30 singles title last September.  Congratulations to our near neighbours also Williamstown Handball Club who have won the Intermediate club team of the year award.  Best of luck to all the above winners at the awards ceremony in Croke Park which will be a big night for them and their families.
 
Kilglass Gaa Handball Club
 
Training continues on Thursday's at 8pm for minors and 9pm for adults in Kilglass Gaels Sportshall. Anyone interested is invited to attend. Contact Anthony Mahady 087-7640677 or Eddie Conboy 086-0528884 for more details. 
 
Upcoming Tournaments
 
Salthill Handball Club in Galway City will be hosting a national tournament on Jan 26th & 27th. Entry form is now available on www.gaahandball.ie.  Grades available are mens Junior and Junior "B" singles and also Masters doubles for players over forty years of age. Entry deadline is Jan 22nd.  Email [email protected] if you wish to enter.
 
 
 

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