Girls claim five of Wexford’s fantastic six titles

IT was a case of the fantastic six for Wexford last weekend in the Leinster GAA Handball finals as the Model county collected provincial honours with the girls putting on the real show claiming five of the victories.

The girls team had qualified for eight finals last weekend and the team got off to the best possible start as the Under-12 doubles pairing of Ellie Murphy O’Gorman and Jodie Keeling defeated Kilkenny duo Lauren Power and Nathana Jackson. That win was followed by success in the girls Under-13 singles competition where Rachel Doherty from Kilkenny was defeated by April Moran from Wexford.

The purple and gold would complete a double at Under-13 grade as Becky O’Neill and Emily Moran captured the doubles title by beating Sontae Jackson and Cliodhna O’Shea from Kilkenny.

Danielle Kinsella and Niamh Miller were defeated in the girls Under-14 doubles final as they were unfortunate to lose out to Kilkenny duo Noelle Dowling and Kelly Ann Ryan, however title number four for the Slaneysiders was won by Cliodhna O’Connell as she played some fantastic handball to win the Under-15 singles title over Meaths Emily Sheridan.

The double of Under-15 titles was secured as the doubles pairing of Ciara Parnell and Leanne Boland took the honours over Kilkenny pairing Eve Brennan and Nicole Dowling.

The last two finals would see two fantastic games and two close losses for the Model county.

In the Under-16 singles final Lauren Flanagan gave her all but lost out to Dearbhal O’Keefe from Kilkenny, meanwhile in the doubles final Leah Doyle and Mollie Dagg from Kildare were the winners over Eva Crean and Emma Sweeney.

The Wexford boys squad had qualified for several finals and while two were postponed there was plenty of action last weekend.

Kyle Jordan from Kilkenny captured the Under-12 singles title defeating Johnny Goggins from Wexford, and the black and amber took the Under-12 doubles title too as Conor Holden and Killian Kelly got the better of Miley Connors and Killian Whelan.

Billy Drennan from Kilkenny took the under 13 singles title with a fine win over Cathal Cummins from Wexford, with strong Kilkenny pairing of Padraig Foley and Jack Doyle winning the Under-14 doubles titles over Wexford duo Dean O’Neill and Lorcan Breen.

Daniel Farrelly from Meath took the Under-15 singles title by beating Jack Murphy from Wexford before Wexford got off the mark and collected the Under-15 doubles title as Josh McMahon and Cian Kehoe from Wexford beat Kilkenny duo James Love and Mickie Prendergast to claim the title.

Colm Parnell and Ciaran Power lost out in the under 16 doubles final as they went down to Ciaran Cooney and Billy O’Neill from Kilkenny.

Laois’s Padraig Delaney took the Under-17 singles title by defeating Adam Walsh from Wexford in the final.

Jimmy Goggins and Tommy Connors will play in the Under-13 doubles final in the coming week, while Josh Kavanagh will also take to the court in the Under-14 singles final this week.