Cliódhna O’Connell finally gets to play her All Ireland Junior B 4-Wall SIngles Final
Little did we know back in March 2020 when the pandemic hit, and the All Ireland 4-Wall Championship Finals had to be postponed, that we would have to wait over a year and a half later to finally have the first of these Finals played, The Finals are scheduled to start at the end of next month but, due to study commitments abroad, Cliódhna, from the Coolgreany club, was not able to play on the scheduled dates.
Thanks to her opponent Aoife Hurley (Cork) and Munster GAA Handball, GAA Handball were able to facilitate our request to play this Ladies Junior B Singles Final earlier than scheduled. Cliódhna has gone to great lengths to have the game played so we wish her the very best of luck in her quest for All Ireland glory.
Wexford have been notable absentees on the GAA Handball All Ireland Ladies Singles ‘Roll of Honour’ for quite some considerable time now and Cliódhna bids to end a drought stretching back 29 years to 1992, when Anne Boland (Templeudigan) was victorious in, coincidentally, the same competition. It is quite remarkable to think that no Wexford player has made an impression in an All Ireland 4-Wall Ladies Singles Final in the intervening years. In fact the last Wexford ladies to taste success in a 4-Wall Final were Cliódhna’s club-mates Tanya O’Toole & Martina Walsh in Ladies Junior Doubles in 2008 so she will bid to follow in their footsteps and land another Ladies All Ireland for the north county club.
Cliódhna beat Aoife Brophy (Laois) and Áine Duggan (Kilkenny) in the Leinster Championship before accounting for Kelly Curran (Galway) in Annaghdown in her All Ireland Semi-Final on 8th March 2020. Aoife Hurley is a tough competitor and excels also on the Camogie fields for her club and county. She bids to atone for a 2017 All Ireland 40X20 U-17 Singles Final loss to Molly O’Connor (Laois) and will surely test the mettle of the Coolgreany player.
Ddetails of the Final are as follows:
Friday 15th October
Dungarvan, Waterford OIC Gary McCarthy (083 4580507) At 7.30pm
LJBS Wexford (Cliódhna O’Connell) v Cork (Aoife Hurley)
Please note as Indoor Covid Restrictions are still applicable until at least 22nd October, this Final will be restricted to 6 patrons only, so each player is allowed to bring 1 other adult with them and this leaves 2 adults for the host venue (venue official + referee).
