St.Mellans Handball Club

Ulster Interclub Championship Final. The “Ulster Interclub Junior B Championship Final”was hosted last Wednesday night in St.Mellans, with Kingscourt as our opposition, and yet again the boys delivered and lifted the Ulster title in doing so, first in to play in the first singles game was Christopher Mc Kenna (PJ) where he faced a strong hitting player in Niall McMahon, but like earlier games Christopher wasn’t fazed and put a stern marker down for the nights proceedings taking both games 15-4, 15-10, then the doubles pairings of Ian Treanor & Eoin Treanor faced Cillian O’Reilly & Gary Byrne, the first game our team were pushed all the way but got over the line by the bare minimum 15-14, the Cavan men “upped” the tempo and were picking off some good shots and took the game 7-15, this left Fergal O’Neill with a bit to do to secure the title as he took on Diego Di Folco, going into the game with a sore ankle that he got in the semi-final certainly wasn’t helping Fergal’s movement but with a better shot selection and great timing around the court Fergal took the first game 15-9, Fergal was a full “15” points ahead going into the final game, but still in handball it’s not won until you have the points, Diego took a 0-4 lead but Fergal calm as ever didn’t panic got in and secured the point needed for the victory and title, Fergal then pushed on with wind in his sails and took the last game 15-12 to secure an “82-64” winning score line, a great victory for the boys and another Provincialtitle for the club, John Mc Carron was an unused sub throughout the campaign as he was out due to injury, both the All Ireland semi and possible final are pencilled in for this Saturday the 3rd, venue TBC, semi @ 11am and possible final @ 3pm, the opposition comes from the “West” inBofield of Mayo, but due to clashing events we may have to readjust the team selection, a full report will be in next week, either way boys well done on the “Ulster Title” and good luck in theAll Ireland series from all in the club & parish.

Table Quiz. We are holding our annual Table quiz tomorrow night Friday the 2nd of Decemberin the complex for the handball club, usual rules apply so get a team of 4 and get your thinking caps on !!!!!, on the night we will be having our presentation of the juvenile awards and a few outstanding adult ones also, so a good night for all, refreshments will be served.

Golden Gloves. We had 5 club members that travelled to the Golden Gloves tournament in Belfast last weekend, in the “Men’s C” section Christopher Mc Kenna(PJ) lost to Colm Naughton of Sligo, Conor O’Fearain lost to John Mc Glinchey of Tyrone and Dermot Boyle lost to Ciaran Gallogly of Kidare, in the girls U17’s Aoibhinn Mc Cluskey lost to Holly Byrne of Kilkenny, in the boys U15’s Donnacha Mc Cluskey lost a game to Caleb Donnellan of Galway and beat Travis Gibbons of Sligo, well done to all, hopefully we will have a bigger representation from the club next year.

Ulster She’s Ace. There is an “Ulster She’s Ace” been held in Beragh Co.Tyrone next weekend the 10th & 11th of December for ages of female players, we would encourage all girls to take up the opportunity to take part in this event, it is a fun event with all types of games & coaching ongoing for the 2 days, even if some of the younger ones are a bit shy to take part we encourage parents to travel done and watch all that is happening on the days and get a fell for it and just see the level of female participation in the sport, I think closing entry date is the 3rd (Saturdaycoming), registration can be done on link sent out, each player must register themselves, So, get involved!

Juvenile Coaching & Leagues. The juveniles leagues are ongoing, we hope all enjoy the games, referees can adjust rules to accommodate players level of play, we introduced the leagues to give the juveniles a taste of game structure and don’t worry if a game doesn’t materialise into long rallies, we just want to see them in the alley and having a go!!!!!!!!!!!!, the 3 serve rotation will also help to balance out the game, we will also organise a league for the beginners in the next few weeks to get them in to the rhythm of game structure, softer rules will be in operation to suit also.

Juvenile Blitz. The second Ulster underage Blitz takes place this Sunday the 4th of December in Saval Co.Down, , good luck to all taking part.

County Championships. The juvenile county championships are fast approaching, so try and get down and get as much extra practice in as possible.

Court Bookings. Check the “QR” codes around the courts for the new digital booking system for the “booking” of the alleys, any problems contact Eoin or Damon and all will be sorted.

Mono League. The Mono league is running very smooth, but with clashes in the Ulster Club competitions and few injuries we have only 13 outstanding games to get tidied up and with over 450 games already played in the league well done to all taking part for keeping all going so well, any problems let the committee know, any games not played get sorted ASAP by captains please!!!!!!, can all captains send out messages to their team 48hrs in advance of each game to ensure all have a full team and all know about “game and time”.

Registration. If any member still hasn’t paid their “club Membership” can do so through Foireann,, so go to www.foireann.ie and get registered and paid up, any issues contact a member of the committee, NB players are not eligible to play in county, provincial or All Ireland events if not registered with Croke Park.