For years the famed Meath handball club of Kells was to the fore in the Irish Interclub handball scene, a force to be reckoned with. In recent years however, the club has been forced to bow to the supremacy of four time champions, Mayo’s Ballaghaderreen. But on Monday night last, after some serious soul-searching, the club collected the MACSPORTS Interclub Open title for the first time in five years.
It was a love affair which lasted almost five hours, was played at two venues due to condensation building up in the initial venue, and had all the highs and lows sport brings.
Meath stalwart, Tom Sheridan opened the sides attack with a 21-17, 21-18 win over Ballaghaderreen’s Joe McCann. Sheridan, a former All-Ireland Senior Singles champion, fought back from a poor start to take the first game, while McCann notched off aces in both games to keep his side in contention.
The doubles pairing saw a meeting of Kells Carl Browne and Walter O’Connor, and the men from the West, Paul Flynn and Vinnie Moran. Flynn and Moran were credited with pulling the Mayo side into the final, but the strong Meath pairing were in top form and after some clinical finishing, eventually took a 21-8, 21-16 victory. This left the Royal side with 26 points to spare going into the last game, where number four seed for the All-Ireland Senior Championship, Dessie Keegan, was hoping to pull victory from the jaws of defeat. In the early stages, it looked possible as he raced into a 12-2 lead. Carroll recomposed himself and picked off aces before losing 21-14, having to make just three points in the second game. He did, to leave the score 102-83, and grant Kells their first All-Ireland Interclub Open title since 2004, when ironically the side also defeated Ballaghaderreen.
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