Handball finals a success

Kells Handball Club hosted their championship finals in front of a large and vocal audience on Wednesday last with guest of honour, World champion Paul Brady in attendance to present the trophies to all finalists. This year"s finals started off with an u-7 decider between Daniel Farrelly and Jack Browne and it was a very entertaining game as the two boys displayed some excellent handball skills. However, it was Farrelly"s serve which was the difference between the two players and he eventually won by 21-4. In the second final, the B division, Dean Wearan was up against Eamon Keyes in what was a close fought match with both players holding the lead at various times throughout the course of the game. Keyes used his power well in the early stages, but in the end it was Wearan who prevailed and took the game on a score of 21-14. The main event of the night was a repeat of the 2007 final with reigning champion Robert Fox facing Dylan Sheridan. Both players have put in a huge effort this year and this paid off for them when they teamed up to win the Leinster 60 x 30 u-12 doubles title earlier this year, a wonderful achievement in their first year to enter the championships. Sheridan won the toss and his determination was clearly visible from the start as he raced into a 10-0 lead. The youngster seemed unstoppable, but with the crowd starting to get behind Fox he got in to serve and picked off a number of nice shots to reduce the deficit to 6-10. Leading by just four aces Sheridan reclaimed serve and began to go on another run, bringing the scores to 18-6, but Fox wasn"t done yet and he scored a couple of aces to mount a comeback. Sheridan restored the order to take the game to 20-8 before, on game ball, Fox returned with a neat kill shot to the left corner to give himself one more chance. However, it was not to be his night and Sheridan regained the serve and, on his second attempt on game ball, made no mistake to take the match and the coveted Kells Juvenile Championship title. Following the finals, Brady played an exhibition match against local player Gary McConnell, who will represent Ireland at the USHA Junior Nationals on Saturday, 27th December. Club chairman Tom Sheridan thanked all the players who took part in this year"s championships. He was delighted to welcome Brady to the club for the night and wished him all the best in his efforts to make it three World titles in-a-row in Portland next year. He also took the opportunity to present a cheque to Gary McConnell for the USHA Junior Nationals.