Club Notes

St.Mellans Handball Club

Minor Championship Final. The county minor final took place Tuesday past the 14th in Bawn, from the St.Mellans club we had Oisin Hagan where he took on Oran Finnegan from Carrickmacross, two very physically strong hard hitting players in action, the first game Oisin totally controlled and with some great passing shots down the right took the first game 21-11, but with serving first in the 2nd game Oran began to make a stand and ran into a 3-9 lead, Oisin just wasn’t getting the same rhythm of serving going but closed it back to 8-9, and from there it was really point for point until Oisin pulled into the first real lead he had in the game at 19-15, with a few in’s & out’s from both Oisin got the winning point needed to take the title 21-16, a well-deserved win, some great retrieving shots from both, but no doubt there is a lot more in the tank of Oisin, with his physical present and power he will be a very player in the future, a handful for any opponent, well done Oisin.

Minor County Final Oisin Hagan St.Mellans Wnr Oran Finnegan Cmx R-up

Ulster Juvenile Championships. The first round of the Ulster Juvenile Championships kick off this Saturday the 25th , we have 4 sets of games involving club players representing the county playing in St.Mellans where they play Donegal and if they win they will be heading down the road with other club & county players to play on Sunday in Belfast in Gort Na Mona & St.Pauls, with all finals the following weekend in Beragh, good luck to all our county players, good luck to Shay, Odhran, Ava & Beibhinn, Harry, Leah & Fionnuala, Myles, Enda, Dermott & Daithi and Donnacha.

Juvenile Coaching & Leagues. The new juvenile doubles leagues for the juveniles are up and running, this will replace the coaching sessions for all except the younger ones on a Monday evening, can all players please make a special effort to be there for their games, as it is doubles if there is a player missing it disrupts both teams.

Adult Club Singles. The adult club singles finals were played last Saturday evening, the “Robert O Reilly Engineering” Cup (D1), “Gola Woodworks” Cup (D2) & “Tunnel Kerr” Cup (D3) along with an outstanding D1 final which fell victim to the Covid break, first into play in the “Tunnel Kerr” Cup D3 was Aoibhinn Mc Cluskey & Dermott Mc Kenna, a good game to start of proceedings. Aoibhinn was serving well but Dermott just controlled all better and won the first ever Tunnel Kerr Cup 21-14, 21-11, next in was Chrissy Mc Kenna (D) and Chrissy Mc Kenna(PJ) to play the deferred 2020 Robert O Reilly Engineering Cup Final, this one fell victim to Covid, Chrissy D may have been rusty but still has a massive presence in the alley and pushed CPJ all the way, but CPJ got over the line and won 21-7, 21-18, the third final was the Gola Woodworks Cup final, this pitted Damien Mc Rory against Karl Mc Meel, this was a case of youth versus experience, and one thing that is proven time and time over is you can beat experience and Damien proved so, his general overall play and knowing when to kill proved the difference, but as Karl proved in his county final he never stopped and push Damien all the way but feel short 21-16, 21-14, the last game of the day was the 2023 Robert O Reilly Engineering Cup Final, here we had John Mc Carron taking on Paul Cassidy, Paul would have enough to put alot of players away but when you come up against someone of the physicality of John you have to be sure of every shot because if not measured correctly he’ll be there to pick it, and the more Paul threw at John he was just there to respond, neither was giving an inch throughout but John had enough in the tank to get over the line 21-16, 21-4, a great evenings handball and well done to all the winners & runners-up, and big thanks to all our sponsors of each of the competitions, without you none of this would be possible, and again Eoin knock this one out of the park, his organisation and execution is next to none!!, from putting the leagues together to the finals was brilliant and the live streaming of all has to be commended, take a look at all photos and the games on Facebook, worth a look.

Gola Woodworks D2 Final Karl Mc Meel Runner-up Declan Mc Kenna Ref Damien Mc Rory Winner

Robert O Reilly 2020 Final Paul Cassidy Ref Christopher Mc Kenna Runner-up Christopher Mc Kenna Winner

Robert O Reilly D1 Final Paul Cassidy Runner-up CPJ Ref John Mc Carron Winner

Tunnel Kerr D3 Final Aoibhinn Mc Cluskey Runner-up CPJ Ref Dermott Mc Kenna Winner

Adult Club Doubles. Eoin has the adult club doubles drawn up, Treanor Memorials (D1), The Scarna Inn (D2) and The Hollands Cup (D3), so please double check your time of play, as a “no-show” let’s 3 players down!!!!!!, this and the club ladies open are last remining adult competition of the year so let’s all sign off in style!!!!!!!.

Ladies County Open. The inaugural “County Ladies Open” took place last Friday evening in St.Mellans, in the first semi-final Fiona Flood took on Lousie Mc Ginnity from The Harps, though slightly rusty Lousie was just took strong on the day and took both games, then Aoibhinn Mc Cluskey took on Emily Mc Ginnity also The Harps, Aoibhinn served well but Emily was just that bit sharper and took both games, but well done to the girls for taking part and we will hope to run this competition off earlier in the year which will hopefully give all the girls a better chance of being available to play.

Ladies Open Fiona Flood Aoibhinn Mc Cluskey St Mellans Emily & Louise Mc Ginnity Harps

Ulster Adult Championships. Hard luck to Joe Kelly as he lost his Junior B Singles Ulster championship game to Diego Di Folco of Cavan, but it was better news from Patrick Mc Kenna as he defeated Steven O Neill from Antrim also in the Junior B Singles 21-11 7-21 11-8, he now faces Joe’s victor Diego Di Folco from Cavan, also in Ulster good luck to Fiona Flood & Aoibhinn Mc Cluskey as they team up together in the Ladies Junior B Doubles where they take on Laura Tuohey & Sarah Devlin from Tyrone this Sunday the February 26th in St.Mellans @ 11am, good luck all!.

Get Well Soon. The handball club would like to wish Anna Rose all the best and get well soon, Anna Rose has always been a great supporter of the handball club in every way and has always been there when called upon, see you back soon Anna Rose!.