Daly & McCarthy stun Shanks & Doyle in Abbeylara Open doubles final

Darragh Daly & Robbie McCarthy played some inspirational handball on the way to an exciting tie break victory over hot favourites Charly Shanks & James Doyle in the final of the Patrick Hyland Cup open doubles played in Abbeylara on Sunday August 15^th last writes Michael McGee

The 1-wall tournament hosted by the Abbeylara Handball Club has been going from strength to strength with record entries of over 150 taking part. The Juvenile players had their day out in the sun the previous day with competitions in Boys Girls U-12, 14, 16 & 18 doubles. Yet again players from the Ulster province dominated the underage events. Armagh Juvenile Coach Conor McMahon brought a great number of young players from Armagh and by the end of a long day they went home happy with the 3 titles on offer in the girls events. Niamh Coleman & Aoibhinn Henderson got the ball rolling when taking the girls U-12 doubles. There was an all Armagh final in the Girls U-14 with Aoife McConville getting the better of Aoife Kelly in 2 games. Niamh Henderson was also equally impressive when defeating Karen Farrell from the host club also in straight games. The Boys for their part also threw up some stars of the future. In the U-12 doubles Sean Kerr who was crowned National 1-Wall champion at U-12 level partnered Turlaigh Clarke also Tyrone. However it was the overall team play of Mattew McCartan & Pauric Mullen that eventually won the day in another splendid final that went the full distance. McCartan & Mullen just holding off the strong challenge in the end to record a fully merited victory by 7-15, 15-11, 11-7. Wicklow’s Daniel Curry & Tyrone’s Niall Allison went all the way in the Boys U-14. There was no stopping Monaghan’s Darren Doherty & Patrick McRory in the Boys U-16 final with a comfortable 15-4, 15-4 win over Colin McKevitt Armagh and Leitrim’s Shane Doonan. Another Monaghan star of the future is Terry McElvanney as he partnered Tyrone’s Conor McElduff. Killian Carroll Cork & Niall O’Connor on paper looked to have the title already wrapped up and were strong contenders for the Boys U-18 doubles. McElvanney & McElduff had other ideas however as they took a narrow 1^st game by the minimum 15-9 and had the mental and physical toughness to win the second by 15-9.

Yet again the Gods shone down on the Abbeylara Committee as warm sunshine all day helped the games to run off smoothly without the threat of any rain. On Sunday was the premier competitions for the Patrick Hyland Cup open doubles and the John Carthy for Junior/Masters levels. Players from all over the Country attended. Cork’s Donnacha O’Dea & John Casey newcomers to 1-wall showed their dedication to the event having to endure an exhausting 7 hour round trip to attend the event. In the John Carthy Cup Wexford’s Jason Murphy and James Smith qualified for the final to meet Dan O Breen & Gerry McGrath from Kilkenny.

Breen & McGrath bring the John Carthy Cup back to Kilkenny

The Kilkenny men got out of the blocks quicker in game 1 taking it by 15-6. The second was even more entertaining with very little separating the teams. Scores were tied at 5 & 9. Only once was there a 3 point gap between the sides. Murphy was doing a lot of good work inside while his partner James Smith was the busier of the two. He returned very well everything that Kilkenny could throw at him. Wexford were serving for the game at 14-11 but Kilkenny managed to get them out with Breen winning a point at the front wall and a McGrath kill leaving only the minimum in it at 14-13. It was Wexford to got the all important score to bring the final to a tie break. Kilkenny raced into an 9-2 lead in the tie break. Kilkenny managed to keep Wexford danger man Jason Murphy quiet as all play was directed to James Smith right side. Murphy was getting frustrated as his high tempo game was effectively killed off. Lack of experience and frustration seen him jump in and handling errors cost Wexford dearly in the closing stages. Kilkenny were in serving for the match at 10-3 but the slaneysiders refused to go quietly. Murphy with a power point and then an excellent dive reduced the lead to 10-5. It was not enough as Smith’s return was wide of target on the right giving Kilkenny the win on a 11-5 scoreline.

Daly & McCarthy defeat the Armagh one-wall giants

Armagh Charly Shanks & James Doyle in their Armagh strip were 1^st on court followed soon after by Robbie McCarth Jnr and Darragh Daly. McCarthy just a few hours earlier had ended Barry Goff’s involvement in the quarter final of the All-Ireland softball singles. Doyle was going for his 4^th success in the Patrick Hyland Cup. It was Daly & McCarthy who got a blistering start to the game that caught Shanks & Doyle cold. Daly & McCarthy into an 12-3 lead. Shanks upped his game and got 3 points in a row. McCarthy called a time out as the Armagh men were heading back into contention. Shanks with a wry smile with his momentum now broken. When play resumed another Armagh score came their way at 13-7. Then amazingly Shanks double faulted and then Doyle was hit with his own ball on serve. The Westmeath/Tyrone combo didn’t make it count as Armagh pulled back 2 more points. A McCarthy volley put them on game ball but Armagh were not done yet and hit back with 2 more scores. McCarthy halted the Armagh men in their tracks with an excellent kill on the right side for a 15-11 win in the opening game.

The Armagh men were determined during the interval to get back into the match and this they did. With an early 4-0 lead and an number of handling errors from McCarthy & Daly pushed Armagh into an 9-3 advantage. Shanks skilfully returned a ball between his legs but Daly killed the ball in the right corner. Doyle powering serves at pace to Daly’s right in the hope of getting scores. A nice touch from Daly with a light place shot through the centre caught both Armagh players out. Daly & McCarthy chipped in with more points to be just 2 behind at 9-7. Shanks & Doyle re grouped again and got the next 6 scores to bring the second cup of the day to a tie break.

At 2-2 the best rally I have ever seen in 1-wall emerged before our eyes. All 4 players trying to get the winner close to the front wall. And about 40 shots later Shanks unlucky to put the ball out over the left side wall. It was an amazing rally and the Abbeylara supporters loved what they were witnessing from the stars on show. McCarthy & Daly were getting stronger all the time. Daly was unshakable on the right and McCarthy’s wonderful reflexes and returns was a joy to watch. Doyle kept encouraging Shanks for more work rate but it was the Westmeath/Tyrone duo that worked even harder to go into an 10-3 lead. Armagh got 2 consolation scores as McCarthy coolly put away a deft low shot onto the front wall that clinched the win for the Westmeath & Tyrone man.

Anna & Mary O’Reilly and their young enthusiastic committee in Abbeylara deserve every praise and congratulations for hosting another outstanding tournament. Roll on Abbeylara 2011.