The Cusack brothers Oisin and Fionn, representing St Comans by way of Strokestown, made the long journey south to Mallow, Co. Cork for their very popular annual One Wall tournament last weekend.
Both brothers have styles very suited to the One Wall code and followed up their good runs in the Williamstown Onewall event with very good runs against strong opposition in Cork.
Using a round-robin system, all players were guaranteed at least four games from their group stages, from which two qualifiers made it to the knockout matches. Competing in the 17 & under grade Oisin won out his group in very impressive style. He then beat Cork’s highly rated Eoin Sheehan 13-10 in a tough semi-final. In the final however, his nemesis from the Williamstown tournament, James Prentice from Tipperary, once again proved a step too far. Although Oisin made the Tipp youngster work hard Prentice’s better killing was the key factor in his win.
Younger brother Fionn won three out of his four group matches in the 15 & under grade, which qualified him in second place. He then showed great composure to win his Round of 16 match against Tipperary opposition 13-12 in a thriller. Unfortunately, he ran into the eventual winner, Cian O’Driscoll from Mallow itself in his quarter-final. In a battle of redheads, Fionn battled hard but O’Driscoll’s better mobility and all-round game was too much for the much-improved Cusack.