Kells duo prevail

The opening round of games of the All-Ireland 60 x 30 Senior Singles Handball Championship proved successful for the Kells club as Tom Sheridan and Brian Carroll succeeded against their Mayo opponents Campbell Brennan and Vinnie Moran respectively. However, there was also some disappointment as Carl Browne narrowly lost out to Mayo"s Dessie Keegan. With Sheridan placed as a number three seed, he was determined to begin his championship with confidence and make his ambitions for All-Ireland gold very clear. Over the two short games against Brennan, Sheridan showed no mercy and dominated the rallies from start to finish. Although Brennan tried to edge his way into the game he could not prevent Sheridan"s progress, allowing the Meath stalwart to take a confidence-boosting win 21-5, 21-2. Carroll"s tussle with Moran took on a much different intensity, with the Kells player emerging victorious on a narrow 21-18, 21-20 scoreline. The match highlighted Carroll"s gutsy determination as he closed large scoring margins on many occasions. In the first game, the Meath senior produced some excellent handball to close the gap from 3-12 to tie the game and then move to victory at 21-18. The second game followed in similar fashion as Carroll refused to be defeated, closing the gap from 12-20 down to win the match on the narrowest of victories by 21-20. Unfortunately, the same success didn"t follow for Browne when he faced number four seed Keegan at St Coman"s on Friday. The first match was controlled by the Kells clubman allowing him to take the first set on a score of 21-11. With that boost in confidence, Browne continued the second match with the same spirit and stayed in front of his opponent until the dying stages. However, Keegan dug deep and began to eat away at Browne"s 16-12 lead and with a number of kill shots he eventually took the game at 21-16. The tiebreaker was an evenly matched affair, but Keegan just edged to victory, 21-16.