Wall Ball Junior Nationals
Mark Doyle and Josh Kavanagh added to Wexford’s growing reputation as a stronghold of juvenile handball when they won the BU11D at Breaffy House, Castlebar last weekend.
The boys made light of their top seeding to dominate the competition beating Sligo/Galway combination Cormac Finn and Mickey Kelly19-11 in the final. Earlier they had defeated Billy Drennan and Daniel Hanrahan, Kilkenny 24-9 in the semi final.
Cian Kehoe produced arguably the best result of the weekend when he knocked the number 1 seed Antoin Fox, Tyrone out of the BU13S at the quarter final stage. His 22-19 victory was well merited and while he lost out to the multi talented Eoghan McGinnity, Monagan by 26-18 in the semi final, he has enjoyed a terrific season which includes a win in the UK Open BU13S.
Daniel Kavanagh justified his second seeding in BU15S and after a couple of easy victories along the way he arrived in the final ready for another battle royal with his great rival Sean Kerr, Tyrone. These two have built up a serious rivalry in the past few years and while the stats favour Kerr there is little between them whether in 60×30, 40×20 or Wall Ball. This final was no exception as both battled for supremacy before the Ulster champion prevailed on a scoreline of 22-15.
Keith Armstrong continued his rich vein of success by taking the B grade in BU17S. Again he ambled untroubled through the earlier rounds before seeing off the challenge of Ceallach Hennessy, Tipperary 27-13 in the final. Keith is now officially an A player but nobody should be in any doubt as to his ability to compete well at this level.
All in all it was another terrific weekend for Wexford handball and as our graph continues to rise perhaps the most important thing we need to do is manage the expectations of clubs, officials, parents and most of all, the players themselves.