Ace displays by young guns
Sport’s future in safe hands after victories in Kilkenny
JODIE KEELING from the St. Joseph’s club in Bishopswater faced off against the extremely talented local girl Amy Brennan in the Under-16 girls’ singles final at the Leinster Juvenile four-wall championship finals in Co. Kilkenny recently.
Jodie was at a disadvantage from the off, being one year younger than her opponent who also in this four-wall season is making the transition to the ladies’ Senior ranks in national tournaments.
Jodie put the first few scores on the board, with early hard-hitting play, to take a 3-0 lead against an unsettled looking Amy.
In handball, having a great serve is a vital aspect of the game, with elite and highly-driven players practicing this for hours on end until perfected, and then they continue to practice so perfection is not lost. When Amy won her chance to serve, what the Kilkenny girl unleashed was exhibition serving and a delight to watch, but total frustration for any player trying to return a serve only two inches from the floor.
Unfortunately, Jodie was that player here but never stopped trying, showing great grit and determination, however Amy took the first game 21-6.
The second game was a repeat of the first, however Jodie had got the measure of Amy’s excellent serve to put early pressure on the Kilkenny girls, with both players producing great shots in fine rallies.
The Marble city girl took another serving masterpiece from her large handballing skills bag, returning pressure on to the Slaneysider and eventually taking the second game and the title. These brilliant handballers are destined to reach the top of the ladies’ ranks in the years ahead.
Wexford’s pairing in boys’ Under-17 doubles final was an all St. Joseph’s duo of Conor Dobbs and Ben Keeling (brother to Jodie) against Seán Purcell and Adam O’Shea of Kilkenny.
The grade of Under-17 is the last age group in Juvenile handball and the last opportunity to add a Juvenile title to their honours list before making the move to adult handball. This game started at a fierce high tempo with superb skills, shot choice and teamwork shown by all players, and it was shaping up to go the distance.
With what seemed like a mountain of handball played, the score was only standing at 10-10, when Wexford produced four unanswered aces, giving themselves and their supporters a little breathing space.
The relaxing atmosphere didn’t last long as Kilkenny put the next five scores on the board to go 15-14 up.
What followed was an exchange of long rallies and all-round court play, displaying excellent skills and matching each other score for score, now at 18-18.
The Bishopswater boys hit two precious serves and found themselves on 20 and serving for the first game, only for another push from Kilkenny who got themselves into serve.
The crowd felt the tie had shifted and it was now Kilkenny’s game, however Conor and Ben didn’t get that message, battling and getting Kilkenny out without making an ace. This time Wexford got the one ace required to take the game 21-18.
The second game picked up in exactly the same manner as the first: shot for shot, ace for ace, kill shot for kill shot, in a high energy-sapping encounter.
At 7-6 to Wexford, Conor and Ben went on a streak, and with great serving and handball play they looked in control, taking a lead of 16-7.
At this stage Kilkenny took a time-out and returned to the court with a spring in their step, slowly taking back some control and closing the gap, bringing the score to 16-15.
Wexford took a time-out themselves that was perfectly timed, allowing them to settle, and they got the serve back along with the next three aces to go 19-15 up.
The battling, determination and never give up attitude shown by Wexford was nothing short of phenomenal, and for their rewards they took the game 21-17 and the Leinster title.
In the Under-15 boys’ singles final, Taghmon player Bobby Doyle went into battle against Westmeath player Gareth Mullaniff in great form, having won both the county Under-15 singles and doubles titles in recent weeks.
He was confident he had put in all the hard work in county training and under the watchful eye of his dad, Robert, the county coach.
Using all his national and international experience to his advantage, Bobby got off to a good start, taking an early lead with exquisite serving and kill shots.
Little was known about the Westmeath player going into this final, only that he had played excellent handball in the semi-finals against a highly-rated Kilkenny player, and Gareth was beginning to find his own range and shots.
Sticking to his gameplan and knowing he had more in his skill set, Bobby upped his game, demonstrating fabulous handball shots and finishing out the first on a scoreline of 15-11.
The two minutes given to players between games didn’t do Bobby any favours as he struggled to settle in the second aand was behind quickly 6-0, so he called a time-out.
Having been given advice and encouragement, Bobby dug deep, slowly reeling his opponent in ace by ace until they both stood at 11-11.
After some long, hard-fought rallies with all handball shots on display and executed to near perfection, it was Bobby showing the large crowd in the host club of Kilfane that his fight and determination was greater than his opponent.
And once he took the lead, he never looked back, taking another title back to the Taghmon handball club on a score of 15-12.
In the Under-17 girls’ doubles final, twin sisters Emily and April Moran faced into their last Leinster four-wall decider against the Kilkenny pairing of Lauren Power and Rachel Doherty.
The twins from the Ballymitty club are no strangers to inter-county handball, having played nearly every year since they were Under-13, but this is only their second time teaming up in inter-county doubles.
This final was the last on a seven-game programme in the O’Loughlin Gaels club, and our girls and supporters had travelled up for the first game on the programme to show support to all the other Wexford players.
While the Kilkenny girls only arrived shortly before their own game, this seemed to give them an advantage as they got off to a flyer, finding their range and shots for an early lead of 15-6.
The more Emily and April tried to find their form, the more they struggled and made unforced errors, allowing Kilkenny to increase their lead to 20-7.
With encouragement from the Wexford crowd, the Ballymitty girls put a good run together and aces on the board closing the gap to 20-14, only for Kilkenny to get a lucky bounce against the run of play and the chance to serve for the one ace needed.
They took their opportunity to win 21-14.
The start of the second game was a heavy exchange between four very experienced handballers, and every ace was a fight to get.
With the score standing at 8-6 to Kilkenny, they upped a gear, taking firm control of proceedings while pulling ahead from the sisters all the time.
With Kilkenny on 20 and match ball, serving for a spot in the
All-Ireland semi-final in their sights, Lauren produced an excellent three-wall serve, finishing the game off 21-7 and keeping the title in Kilkenny.
The strong pairing of St. Mary’s (Wexford town) player Shane Kehoe and Coolgreany’sConor Horan teamed up in the Under-15 boys’ doubles final against Rory Glynn and Ronan O’Brien of Kilkenny.
The Wexford boys came out in lively form and firing on all cylinders, and that along with low-placed brilliant serving found themselves quickly up 5-1.
That brilliant executed serving just seemed to desert the Slaneysiders and they failed to make any scores on their next two serving hands, allowing Kilkenny to bring it to 5-5.
A much-needed time-out was called by Wexford in the hope it would break Kilkenny’s flow. With their gameplan and preparations reiterated in the Wexford boys’ minds, they re-entered the court and produced stylish play while also taking control of matters, rattling their score up to 14-5.
As seen in other finals, Wexford players seem to have a problem getting that final ace at the first time of asking, and Shane and Conor were no exception to this pattern, allowing Kilkenny to get serve back.
However, Wexford only allowed Kilkenny to get two aces before securing serve again and getting the ace needed to take the game 15-7.
Wexford should have gone into the second game and continued as the first, but it was the complete opposite and they found themselves behind 6-1 to a fighting Kilkenny pairing who had truly announced their arrival in this final.
The pressure applied to Wexford forced them into unforced errors and bad shot choice decisions, allowing Kilkenny to go 11-5 up. Shane and Conor began to find their rhythm again but Kilkenny didn’t ease up.
The skill levels on display by the four boys was outstanding and the audience was captivated, but for every ace Wexford made, Kilkenny responded and the score was 1410 to the hosts.
This time they missed their first attempt at game ball, so Wexford had a chance.
The instructions to Wexford were simply to make aces and don’t allow Kilkenny back in to serve.
There was nothing simple about what followed next, as the performance put in by Shane and Conor was superb, bringing the game to 14-14 and Wexford’s game and possible match ball.
The dreaded first attempt at game ball that we had witnessed before was gone this tim,e and Wexford clinched the title 15-14.
Well done to all the Juveniles who represented Wexford with great pride and honour in these Leinster championships, and best wishes to the remaining singles and doubles players marching into All-Ireland semi-finals against Ulster opposition in Tyrone and Cavan venues on Sunday, March 8.