McConnell and Carroll claim fourth All-Ireland success

The pair beat Dublin in a tiebreaker in the All Ireland Senior Doubles 60x30 finale. Carol Farrelly reports

On Saturday afternoon Gary McConnell and Brian Carroll claimed the All Ireland Senior Doubles 60×30 title for a fourth time as a pairing with a victory over Dublin. There was a large Kells contingent gathered in Croke Park to cheer on the royals.

Both teams were eager to not make mistakes in the opening stages and it showed on the score line. Meath opened up a 9-3 lead but Dublin clawed it back to 9-9. It remained cagey throughout the first game but Meath pulled away in the end to win 21-16.

Meath we’re slow out the blocks in the second game and Dublin punished them. Dublin led 15-3 but Meath remained calm and got going to bring the game back to 14-18. Dublin finished out the second game 21-14 to bring the final to a tiebreaker.

The tiebreaker was a tense affair once again with every point being fought for as if their lives depended on it. In the end, Brian and Gary dug deep and found enough in the tank to claim victory 11-5. Amazingly this is Brian's 11th Senior 60x30 doubles title after winning 7 with previous partner Tom Sheridan. Gary has seamlessly stepped up to the plate in recent years and has now won four 60x30 doubles titles with Brian. The pair have also won a 40x20 Senior title for good measure.

Tom Sheridan and Christy McGovern won the All Ireland 60x30 Emerald Masters title on Wednesday evening. Tom and Christy travelled to Clonmel to take on Tipperary and won out in straight sets. This adds to the 40x20 title which they won earlier this year.

The Leinster Juvenile 60x30 finals took place on Sunday in Crinkle, Co.Offaly. Kells had two girls' doubles teams in action. Holly Dardis and Coco Griffin had an impressive 15-6, 15-8 win over Dublin in the under-12 final.

Next up was the under-15 final where Sophie Griffin and Amy Lynch represented the royals. Sophie & Amy came out on top versus Kilkenny with a tight 15-12 tiebreaker win to claim the gold medals.

This completed a remarkable week for Kells Handball Club and Meath Handball as four All-Ireland medals and four Leinster medals were brought back to the Royal County.