There was no joy for St Comans in the All-Ireland 40×20 Open Inter Club Handball Semi-Final held in Collohill, Co. Laois yesterday (Saturday) when they were well beaten by a young but formidable side from Breacach, Co. Tyrone.
By Aengus Cunningham
A still out-of-sorts Rikki O’Gara was surprisingly well beaten by the impressive Gabhan McCrystal. While Rikki has very little handball played at the moment he would normally be expected to beat McCrystal, so the 21-8, 21-12 reverse immediately put big pressure on the rest Roscommon outfit.
The doubles pair of Niall McGrath and Darren Beatty only had marginally more success against the hard-hitting Johnny Woods and his solid partner Pol Clarke. The St Coman’s lads are hard hitters themselves, but Woods really dominated the game and his power and killing helped the Red Hand duo to a deserved 21-13, 21-14 win.
With Shane O’Neill only needing 6 points against Neil McDermott in the last singles it was obvious a miracle was needed but O’Neill quickly reached his target and the St Coman’s quest was over.