Focus on Munster juvenile finals
IN handball this weekend the focus will be on 60x30 Munster juvenile championship finals which are scheduled for Tipperary venue Lahorna on Friday at 6.30 and in Cullen on Sunday at 10.30am. Cork interest will be in Cullen on Sunday with Compunet IT Solutions sponsored Cork players facing Limerick in six Munster Finals with hopes high that we can win a number of them.
Cullen programme which commences at 10.30am will open with U-12 Singles in which Fermoy player Cameron O’Sullivan plays Limerick’s Colin Quish, this should be an interesting contest with the Fermoy player who continues to show a lot of promise quietly fancied to win this one.
Next up will be U-12 Doubles with the honour of representing Cork again going to Fermoy again as Ben Sullivan/Cian Cronin O’Neill play Limerick pair Lorcan Costello/Aaron Ryan, again the Fermoy pair are two very promising talented players who have already tasted success at Munster level and will be hoping to continue that winning run on Sunday,they are in with a great chance of winning this one.
Next on the programme is Girls U-13 Singles with Mallow’s Sarah Walsh taking on Limerick’s Abi Lenihan. Again Sarah Walsh is a promising young player who has performed well at Munster and National over the past few and continues to improve with every outing, she will be hoping she can add this Munster title to her tally on Sunday.
Next on the programme will be Boys U-14 Doubles in which Ballydesmond player Kealin Murphy teams up with Liscarroll player Gearoid Healy to play Limerick pair Jack Shanahan/ Anthony Lenihan in what promises to be a lively contest, both Cork players have previously tasted success at Munster level and again showed good form in their semi-final win over Tipperary, they face a strong challenge from a good Limerick pair but will be hoping they can improve sufficiently from their semi-final win to get over the line here albeit narrowly. Girls U-17 Singles will be next up with Conna player Aoife Hurley taking on Limerick’s Aishling Shanahan, both these players have previously met in Munster championship and there has been very little between them, whoever plays best on the day will win this one with possibly just a few aces separating them at the end of a close contest.
The curtain comes down on Sunday’s programme with Boys U-17 Singles with Michael O’Malley, Mallow, taking on Limerick’s Jack O’Brien. Here we have two promising young players who have the ability to progress further and this contest will be an important step forward for whichever one of them comes out on top on Sunday. It should be a close contest that could go either way, with O’Malley hoping it will be him.
Following Sunday’s finals the players available for Mallow Credit Union sponsored Cork teams to compete in Munster Inter-county team championship will be know with the County Juvenile Committee planning to finalise those teams during next week.
Saturday, September 23 will be another important date for Ballydesmond ladies Catriona Casey/Aishling O’Keeffe as they line out at Croke Park Handball Centre in 60x30 Ladies All-Ireland Senior Doubles Final in which they will face Kilkenny pair Ciara Mahon/Aoife Holden.