By Aengus Cunningham
Connacht Ladies Junior ‘B’ 40×20 Handball Final
Aoife McDonagh defeated Janet Flanagan in the Connacht Final of the Ladies Junior B singles in a three game thriller. Aoife narrowly lost the first game 19-21, but recovered to win the second 21-16. The third game was a real back-and-forth battle with Aoife eventually winning 21-18.
Connacht Minor 40×20 Handball Final
Michael Egan once again lost out to Moycullen’s Diarmuid Mulkerrins in their Minor Connacht Final played in Claremorris last Sunday. The first game was a case of what could have been, as Michael dominated the game but failed to finish it off and ended up losing 21-19. In the second Michael let his head drop and went down far too easily 21-7.
Cumann na mBunscoil All-Ireland Handball Final
Well done to Aisling and Siobhan Treacy and putting in a gallant effort in the All-Ireland Cumann na mBunscoil Finals in Kingscourt in Cavan. The girls narrowly lost their first two rounds to Munster and Leinster, to fight it out for bronze with Ulster. The Mount Talbot national school girls were too strong for the Monaghan girls from St Louis NS. In fact if the Roscommon girls had started like they finished they would have out scored the Leinster girls, to possibly secure 2nd place. However, Tipperary’s Ardcroney NS were deserved winners on the day with good consistent play. Aisling and Siobhan will learn from this stage and must take their finishing form into the Connacht Championships next week in Westport.
Connacht 40×20 Juvenile Semi-finals
There were three 40×20 Juvenile semi-finals against Mayo played in St. Coman’s last Saturday but unfortunately there were no winners for Roscommon.
In the Girls U14 singles Shauna Clogher tried hard but found Belcarra’s Heather Burke too good. Burke’s serving and general mobility around the court were very impressive and she ran out a comfortable 15-3, 15-6 winner.
In the Boys U13 singles Ahmed Yakhyaev played quite well in the first game of his matchup with Charlestown’s Niall Fleming and made his highly thought of opponent really work for his aces before going down 15-6. The second was a different story though, with Fleming easing to a 15-1 win.
Khalid Yakhyaev found the excellent Patrick Murphy from Claremorris far too good in their U17 singles. Murphy is the red-hot favourite for the All-Ireland title and won at his leisure in two straight games.
Fixtures
The Juvenile Connacht Finals are being held in both Aughagower and Newport, Co. Mayo on Sunday 28 February and Roscommon are represented in four grades overall: Girls U13 Doubles – Siobhan and Aisling Treacy; Boys U13 Doubles – Philip Halliday and Eanna Moran; Boys U16 Singles – Fionn Cusack; Boys U16 Doubles – Dylan Hanley and Gareth Delaney.