Search Results for 'Joe McCann'

Last weekend’s handball action saw Mayo club Ballaghaderreen take an historic sixth All Ireland 40 x 20 inter-club title in a row, defeating Ballydesmond, Co Cork, in the final. An icy Christmas led to huge fixture congestion, warranting both postponed semi-finals and final of the senior club championship be played on the same day. Ballaghaderreen accounted for the up-and-coming Kells, Co Kilkenny, in their semi-final. Ballydesmond came through a tight encounter with Carrickmore, Co Tyrone, to claim their final spot.

The main business of the weekend was the Irish Junior 40x20 Nationals held at Cavan and Monaghan venues. Lorraine Havern of Down beat second seed Shauna Hilley from Wicklow in impressive fashion in a surprisingly one-sided final. Both Stephen Cooney and Ian McLoughlin were contenders in the top boys’ event the 19 and under singles. McLoughlin was an early casualty as he was well beaten by Patrick Funchion from Kilkenny, however Cooney, the number two seed, had a great tournament. He accounted for Cian Connolly of Roscommon, 216, 21-9 in his opening match and then he beat all-Ireland minor singles finalist, Padraig O’Carroll of Limerick 21-13, 21-13 to reach the decider against the number one seed, Caolan Daly of Tyrone.

The third annual John Gaffney Memorial Tournament hosted by the Williamstown club on Sunday last attracted a record entry of 50 boys and girls from clubs around the province. In the spirit of the late John Gaffney the event was confined to beginners and improvers of 14 years or younger. Following the opening two rounds the four semi-finalists were Daniel Lydon (Moycullen) and Patrick Murphy (Belcarra), Michael McAndrew (Moycullen) and Conor Dohohue (Belcarra), Martin Mulhern (Charlestown) and Brendan Foody (Castleconnor), and Conor O’Toole (Charlestown) and Jason Earlis (Castleconnor). Lydon and Murphy beat McAndrew and Donohue in the first semi-final while O’Toole and Earlis won the second. The final was a slightly one-sided affair with victory on the day going to O’Toole and Earlis on a 15-3, 15-6 scoreline. In a thrilling plate final played at Ballymoe, Martin Byrne (Kiltimagh) and Conor May (Charlestown) defeated Stephen Madden (Ballaghaderreen) and Tony Fox (Collooney) 13 aces to 11.

Dessie Keegan and his Dublin partner Eoin Kennedy had a great run in the US Open of handball tournament at Fountain Valley California last weekend.

Mayo duo Dessie Keegan and Joe McCann made a somewhat disappointing exit from the All-Ireland senior doubles championship as they lost out to Wexford duo Barry Goff and Colin Keeling in three games at Thurles on Saturday evening. There were hopes that the pair would at least threaten for a place in the last four of the doubles championship, and they started with great intent. This was rewarded with a fine 21 aces to 13 win in the opener that set them up nicely for victory. However matters took a turn for the worse after that initial good showing and Keegan, who had been unwell during the week, was unable to maintain the intensity of the first game and the duo paid the price, losing this second game heavily, 21 aces to 5.

Handball

Mayo’s Dessie Keegan remains Connacht’s only senior softball singles quarter-finalist after the third round matches were decided over the weekend. Keegan had the expected victory over Limerick’s Seamus O’Carroll in two games at Roscommon on Sunday. Always quick out of the blocks, the Ballaghaderreen club man won the first game impressively 21 aces to 3 and added the second 21-13 to advance to a quarter-final meeting with Wexford’s Gavin Buggy this weekend. However it was a different story for Keegan’s club mates, Joe McCann and Vinnie Moran, as they lost out heavily to Barry Goff (Wexford) and Eoin Kennedy (Dublin) respectively at the weekend. Pauline Gallagher recorded a hard-earned win over Cork’s Aisling O’Keeffe in her senior singles match at Ballina on Saturday last. The Swinford star showed a lot of determination to win out on a 8-21, 21-6, 21-19 scoreline.

Mayo’s senior handballers saw competitive action for the first time this year as the provincial singles and doubles semi-final were played last week. Dessie Keegan defeated club mate Vincent Moran very comfortably to reach the provincial senior final while Joe McCann accounted for Galway’s Ollie Conway in the other semi-final despite the loss of the opening game on an overall 16-21 , 21-6, 21-1 scoreline.

Senior club specialists Ballaghaderreen took a major set in the defence of their senior softball club title when they narrowly defeated top Leinster side, Kells, in the semi-final on Monday night last at Mullingar. Kells were the only side to beat the Mayo club side in the past three years and they included Carl Browne in top class line out while Ballaghaderreen stuck with their tried and tested foursome.

Dessie Keegan and Joe McCann’s hopes of back to back all-Ireland senior 40x20 doubles titles came unstuck in the feature event at a packed St Coman’s on Saturday evening last as the duo were comprehensively defeated by the superior Cavan pairing of Paul Brady and Michael Finnegan.