This weekend is a busy one for Roscommon handball as no less than seven doubles partnerships from the county take part in All-Ireland semi-finals against Ulster opposition. It must be said that the opposition looks very strong in all grades, but with a little luck hopefully some results will go Roscommon’s way.
Tomorrow (Friday) in St. Coman’s Fiona Tully and Jennifer McCormack look up against it when they host strong Armagh pair Niamh Coleman and Megan McCann in the Ladies Minor Doubles at 7:30pm in St Comans.
Beragh, Co. Tyrone is the venue for Saturday’s Ladies Junior ‘B’ Doubles Semi-Final. Roscommon pair Linda Connolly and Siobhan Tully are playing well and can defeat Tyrone’s Michelle Warren and Emma Lyttle.
On Sunday, from 1pm in St. Comans, the surprise Connacht Junior ‘B’ champions Pauric Coyle and Enda Ward from Curraghboy take on All-Ireland singles champion in the same grade Gavin Coyle from Monaghan and his partner Gary McElroy. That match will be followed by Silver Masters A Semi-Final which sees Cormac O’Brien and Aengus Cunningham face the daunting task of trying to defeat former Senior champions Paddy Carruthers and John McGarry from Belfast.
Dermot Doolin and Ger Walsh make the long trek to Belfast on Sunday to take on old rivals Thomas Maguire and Anthony Caddell in the Emerald Masters Doubles. There’s never much between these two pairings and if Ger carries his singles form into the doubles the Roscommon pair can take it.
That evening, it’s back to Beragh for the Junior Mens Semi-Final and it could be the game of the weekend as Oisin Naughton and Darren Beatty take on Ryan Daly and Barry Devlin in what is sure to be an entertaining clash of styles and tactics.
Fairymount’s Michael Carroll had to conceded his Semi-Final in the Under 21 grade.