On October 30, Clough-Ballacolla played host to the finals of Leinster One-Wall Championships.
Laois had five players advance to finals with Aoife Brophy facing Katie Barret (Carlow) in the Ladies Junior B final, Orla Brophy (Cullohill) facing Katie Brennan (Kilkenny) in the Girls U-16 final, and Kevin Brennan (Clough Ballacolla) pitted against Cathal McNamee (Offaly) in the Men’s Junior B final.
While Andrew Dowling faced Kevin Barret (Carlow) in the Men’s Junior Final and CJ Brennan (Clough Ballacolla) was up against Thomas Finn (Longford) in the Boys U-14 final.
Laois were incredibly unlucky not to have a sixth finalist when Paddy Donovan (Monavea) was pipped 11-9 in a dramatic and tension filled Golden Masters A semi-final tie-breaker by Declan Kilmurray (Offaly).
In the Ladies Junior B final, Aoife Brophy mounted an impressive comeback to defeat Katie Barret in three games 9-15, 15-8, 11-4.
Once Aoife found her rhythm, she played some superb handball and will have realistic expectations of challenging for an All-Ireland title based on this display.
Further success soon followed for Laois when Aoife’s sister Orla Brophy produced a dominant display in the Girls’ U-16 final to dispatch Katie Brennan on a score line of 15-10, 15-7.
Orla has had a fantastic 2022 on the handballing courts having played a pivotal role in helping Leinster to capture the Interprovincial Team of Ten title against a fancied Munster side and winning the Girls’ U-17 60×30 All-Ireland Doubles title with Eádaoin Whyte.
Kevin Brennan entered into his Men’s Junior B Final full of confidence having recorded a series of impressive victories in the earlier rounds.
His thrilling tie-breaker victory over Séan Barron (Kilkenny) 12-15, 15-5, 11-7 was one of the standout games of this year’s Leinster One-Wall championships. In the final, Kevin faced a dangerous opponent in Cathal McNamee.
The opening game was a humdinger of a contest with both players exchanging the lead throughout. Thankfully, the Laois handball won the decisive final ace to edge the opening game on a 15-14 score line.
Having captured the opening game, Kevin impressively secured the title with a resounding 15-3 victory in the second.
Andrew Dowling’s Men’s Junior Final with Kevin Barret proved to be an absorbing contest of high quality with little to separate either player throughout.
Andrew’s accurately placed deep serves and expertly taken kill shots proved decisive as he eked out a well-deserved 15-13, 15-12 victory.
This victory secured for Andrew his third Leinster title of 2022 having already captured the Men’s O35B 40×20 and 60×30 Leinster Doubles titles with his playing partner Tómas Lennon.
In the Boys U-14 competition, CJ Brennan showcased great handballing skills with impressive victories over Fintan Jordan (Dublin) and Barry Foley (Wexford) in the qualifying rounds.
In the final he faced One-Wall specialist Thomas Finn of Longford. CJ battled bravely throughout and pushed his opponent hard in the first game before eventually losing out 15-11, 15-0.
Despite the loss, winning the Leinster silver medal was a fantastic achievement by the young Clough-Ballacolla handballer.
Other notable mentions must go to Elizabeth Pearson, Joseph Pearson, Fergal Brennan, Colm Brennan, Seamus Brennan, Tómas Lennon and Oonagh Byrne who all performed well at these championships and in some cases were unlucky to miss out on Leinster One-Wall medals.
High praise must also be afforded to the Clough-Ballacolla club for doing a fantastic job of hosting and ensuring the success of these One-Wall championships finals.
SEE ALSO – Laois Ladies announce Senior, Intermediate and Junior Players of the Year for 2022
