Damien Martin and Rikki O’Gara won their first round match of the All-Ireland 60×30 Senior Doubles Handball Championship yesterday (Saturday).
By Aengus Cunningham
They had to work hard to beat Limerick brothers Seamus and Padraig O’Carroll in the beautiful new court at Moycullen, Co. Galway. The O’Carroll brothers are both former All-Ireland Minor champions and Seamus recently made the Senior Singles semi-final, so a hard encounter was expected.
In spite of this the St. Coman’s pair were very slow to settle and lost the first game 21-17 without ever showing their true colours.
The second was a completely different story as the Roscommon lads poured it on from the very start and powered their way to an impressive 21-5 win.
The third saw Damien and Rikki take an early lead and although there were many long rallies which showcased the O’Carrolls’ amazing quickness around the court, they were nearly always fighting a defensive battle as the Roscommon duo bludgeoned them with brute power for as long as it took. The Roscommon lads maintained their lead throughout and always looked the more likely winners, but still made hard work of finishing it off before running out 21-17 victors in the third.
Next up will be the reigning All-Ireland 60×30 Senior Doubles Handball champions, Eoin Kennedy and Carl ‘Boo’ Browne from Dublin . That match takes place in Abbeylara, Co. Longford on Saturday September 17th. The Roscommon lads cannot simply rely on power and will definitely have to be more clinical in their finishing if they are to prevail.