It is heartening to see a record number of Doubles pairings from County Monaghan contest the All-Ireland softball finals in two weeks time.  Monaghan is not traditionally known as a powerhouse in the traditional softball court, which is played in the big alley, measuring sixty feet by thirty feet.  There are not too many big courts in Ulster, but fortunately for our Monaghan players, there are two courts at St Macartans College, Monaghan and Ulster Handball are indebted to Raymond Mc Hugh at St Macartans College, for allowing the continued use of the courts for training and fixtures.

In Minor Doubles, Eoghan Mc Ginnity and Tiarnan O Rourke will be taking on Kilkenny (Billy O Neill/Kyle Dunne) at Croke Park on Saturday 28th September.  Eoghan will be out trying to avenge his recent narrow defeat against Kyle in the Singles final.  Once again, it will be a tremendous tussle, as Kilkenny is generally recognised as a strong softball county.

James and Peter Owen Fealy, Corduff take on Kilkenny ( Gerry Murphy, Jerry Maguire) in the Diamond Masters B Final on Sunday at a venue to be decided.

In the Emerald Masters A Final, Conor Mc Donnell,Monaghan Harps and Pete Larkin,Emyvale take on Robbie Mc Carthy Snr and Liam Cassidy, Westmeath.  This will be another tough battle against the defending champions, and we wish them well.  Conor and Pete had a great win in the semi final against James Connaughton and Martin Ward, Galway 21-5,19-21, 21-10.

In the Junior Final Darren Doherty, Emyvale, has made an impressive return to the big alley, and teams up with Conor O Gorman, Carrickmacross.  In the semi final, the Monaghan duo had a fantastic win over Patrick and Lawrence Murphy from Mayo, 19-21,21-8, 21-8.  See complete list of fixtures below:

Saturday 28 th September
Croke Park HC, Dublin
MD Kilkenny (Billy O'Neill/Kyle Dunne) v Monaghan (Eoghan McGinnity/Tiernan O’Rourke)
IS Kilkenny (Shane Dunne) v Tyrone (Ryan Mullan)
MSD
Sunday 29 th September – Finalists
U21D Limerick (Evan Murphy/Nigel O’ Callaghan) v Tyrone (Sean Kerr/Turlough Clarke)
JBD Wexford (Shane Birney/Tommy Moore) v Cavan (Conor Owens/Adam Crosbie)
JD Tipperary (John Ferncombe/Sean Maher) v Monaghan (Darren Doherty/Conor O’Gorman)
O35AD Dublin (Carl Browne/Conor Maxwell) v Mayo (Joe McCann/Joe Dowling)
O35BD Limerick (Keith Heelan/John Keyes) v Wexford (Noel Holohan/J.R. Finn)
MAD Wexford (Barry Goff/Tommy Hynes) v Mayo (Vinnie Moran/Paul Flynn)
MBD Wexford (David Stanners/ Robert Byrne) v Tyrone (Chris Curran/Conal Curran)
SMAD Limerick (Paul Hedderman/Ken Bourke) v Mayo (Jason Judge/Michael Ginley)
SMBD Kildare (Gavin Grace/PJ McGrath) v Mayo (Seamus Grier/John Cunningham)
GMAD Meath (Tom Sheridan/John Leahy) v Tipperary (Kevin Mullins/Adrian Johnson)
GMBD Tipperary (Willie Burke/Brendan Ryan) v Tyrone (Finbar Fullen/Kenny Curran)
DMAD Tipperary (Billy Mullins/Pakie Mullins) v Mayo (Kevin Geraghty/Pat Hopkins)
DMBD Kilkenny (Gerry Murphy/Jerry Maguire) v Monaghan (Peter Owen Fealy/James Fealy)
EMAD Westmeath (Robbie McCarthy Snr/Liam Cassidy) v Monaghan (Conor McDonnell/Peter Larkin)
EMBD Westmeath (Peter McCabe/Philip Clarke) v Galway (Brendan McNeela/Pierce Lalor)
RMD Carlow (Sean Ryan/John Rossiter) v Mayo (Martin Cronin/Pat Hayes)
O70D Galway (Morgan Darcy/John Kelehan) v Cavan (Greg Sheridan/Patsy Hand)
LJBD Kilkenny (Margaret Purcell/Caoimhe O'Shea) v Limerick (Aishling Shanahan/Ciara McCarthy)