Youth taking on experience
Wily Buggy and Hynes facing Armstrong and Riordan
WITH OVER 200 entries in 18 grades, the 2019 Wexford county 40 x 20 adult handball championship is the biggest and most hotly-contested in the country.
The battle to win a medal in this most prestigious of domestic competitions began in late September and has now reached the semi-final stage after a very intense league campaign.
The Leinster 40 x 20 championship also started recently, with Wexford sending forward a large amount of entries with the hope of replicating last year’s success where the county topped the leader board of medal winners.
The county Senior open singles semi-finals will see Gavin Buggy (St. Joseph’s) play Keith Armstrong (Kilmyshall), while Tommy Hynes (St. Mary’s) will meet Galen Riordan (Ballyhogue).
An intriguing group stage has produced a fascinating last four line-up that is certain to add another chapter to the glorious history of Wexford handball.
When both Buggy and Hynes fell at the semi-final stage of last year’s 40 x 20 competition and Riordan saw off Daniel Kavanagh to end the near 40-year Ballyanne, Castlebridge, St. Joseph’s and St. Mary’s domination of our Senior championship, it felt like the end of an era in more ways than one.
In addition to the arrival of a new club on the Senior championship roll of honour, it also raised the prospect of new names replacing the likes of Buggy and Hynes who had hoovered up many of those titles during that period.
The young guns were certainly lining up to take over, as in addition to the brilliant Riordan who excelled at both county and national level in 2017 and 2018, there was also Daniel Kavanagh and Keith Armstrong waiting in the wings.
The question on everybody’s lips as the 2019 version got under way was, did 2018 represent a blip or were Buggy and Hynes really ready to abdicate?
If the group stages are anything to go by, the most decorated duo in Wexford handball are answering an emphatic no!
Buggy topped the nine-man group with no defeats and, perhaps significantly, was only brought to the third game by fellow veterans Hynes and Barry Goff. His legendary fitness as he stands on the brink of 45 will not let him down, and his determination to win again is clear to all.
Hynes finished the group in second place and in this mood is a clear and present danger to all. In addition to his awesome power and ‘killing’ ability, his fitness and conditioning is truly remarkable for a man of 47 years of age.
He blew Riordan away in the league stages and will fancy his chances of doing so again in the semi-final.
Riordan carried the pressure of defending champion into this year’s campaign and with such a target on his back it was almost inevitable that he would falter slightly.
Nonetheless, he has arrived safely in the same knockout stages where he really blossomed last year and, while he buckled under Hynes a few weeks ago, he will view their semi-final clash as a quick opportunity to extract retribution.
Keith Armstrong returned to handball this year after a short sabbatical and has quietly amassed sufficient points to reach the last four. This hugely promising youngster came up just short in the 60 x 30 Senior final back in July and is a champion in waiting.
His speed around the court and his ability to ‘pick’ impossible shots will make things difficult, even for a player of Buggy’s calibre.
Intermediate singles semi-finals: Keith Armstrong (Kilmyshall) v. Noel Holohan (Templeudigan); Galen Riordan (Ballyhogue) v. Paul Lambert (St. Mary’s).
The absence of the 2018 winner, Peter Hughes, from the knockout stages highlights the strength of the field this time around as the presence of both Riordan and Armstrong made qualification very difficult on this occasion.
Riordan took both the Junior and Senior championships in Wexford last year and while questions remain as to his current form, his overall pedigree suggests he has what it takes to continue his winning run.
He will, however, be acutely aware of the danger posed by Paul Lambert in the semi-final, where nothing less than his best will suffice for victory.
Armstrong topped his group with a lot of authority and will be very difficult to beat from this point onwards.
Great hands and terrific mobility make him close to being the complete package, and he will start a strong favourite to dispose of Noel Holohan in his semi-final.
Paul Lambert’s win over Peter Hughes cemented his semi-final place in this year’s championship, and he will be further encouraged by a series of fine performances in the Senior grade where he defeated both Tommy Hynes and Barry Goff.
He came up short against Riordan in the higher grade but did push the reigning champion to 21-20 in the first game.
Noel Holohan will be the outsider of the four semi-finalists but showed eye-catching form early in the championship when he defeated Daniel Kavanagh.
That performance puts him in the frame here and while it would be a surprise if he were to lower Armstrong’s colours, his strong serve and kill has to give him an outside chance.
Junior singles semi-finals: Josh Kavanagh (St. Joseph’s) v. Mark Doyle (Taghmon); Adam Walsh (St. Joseph’s) v. Noel Holohan (Templeudigan).
It’s a young person’s game! Well, that’s not strictly true of course as handball prides itself on being a sport for all the ages, but certainly as far as this, one of Wexford’s premier championships, is concerned, it is a statement that can be truthfully applied.
The decision taken a few years ago to facilitate and encourage the participation of young players of 15 and upwards in the county adult championship has proven to be a spectacular success, with clear and visible improvement in just about all who have availed of the opportunity.
The Junior grade is a case in point as in normal circumstances this would be the preserve of players in their 30s, such as Noel Holohan for instance, but at 37 years of age he very much represents the ‘older brigade’ in these knockout stages.
Remarkably, despite the claims of the strong Templeudigan player, it is Adam Walsh at 19, Josh Kavanagh at 16, and Mark Doyle at 15 who vie for favouritism of this prestigious grade.
Kavanagh is back again having gone all the way to the final in 2018 when, not surprisingly, he was out of his depth against Galen Riordan.
As expected, he has looked even better this season, but he will need to be that against the gifted Mark Doyle who, despite his tender years, is rapidly developing into a real star of the future.
Adam Walsh narrowly beat Doyle in the group stages, and that kind of form ought to be sufficient to see him defeat Noel Holohan in the second semi-final.
Notwithstanding that however, the experienced campaigner from the foot of the Blackstairs has bruised a few reputations in his time and it would not come as a major shock if he was to do so again.
Junior ‘B’ singles semi-finals: David Kenny (Castlebridge) v. Micheál Busher (Bridgetown); David Stanners (St. Martin’s) v. Robert Byrne (Bridgetown).
Three former winners of this grade as well as the 2018 victor of Junior ‘C’ singles fight out the finish of this championship, which sees David Kenny going for his third title in four years.
With national grading now dictating promotion from Junior ‘B’, this championship has become terribly competitive and with that, much more difficult to win than pre-2015 when the grading system changed.
David Kenny managed to do so in both 2018 and 2016, Micheál Busher took the title in 2017, while Robert Byrne was victorious in 2014.
This time around all three tasted defeat in the group stages but each managed to navigate their way through to the knockout stages.
Meanwhile, newly-promoted David Stanners was impressing in his first season competing at this level by going undefeated in his group where, amongst other successes, he enjoyed a 21-19, 14-21, 21-5 win over Micheál Busher.
Defending champion David Kenny has appeared almost invincible in this championship at times, but his form so far this season casts doubt on whether he can continue to dominate to the same extent.
Micheál Busher lost out somewhat tamely to him in last year’s final and will be determined to produce his best on this occasion. If he does, he has a real chance of overturning the champion.
The other semi-final between David Stanners and Robert Byrne is a wide open affair between two very fit and determined players, and a real ding-dong battle is in store.
Each is very hard to beat and whoever emerges victorious will have ambitions beyond semi-final success.
Junior ‘C’ singles semi-finals: James Stanners (St. Martin’s) v. Matthew Hynes (St. Mary’s); Liam Rossiter (Ballyhogue) v. Jim Nolan (Kilmyshall).
Twenty players and 48 games have been whittled down to four players and three games in a championship which never fails to deliver.
His inter-county achievements make James Stanners the favourite.
Junior ‘D’ singles semi-finals: Ben Keeling (St. Joseph’s) v. Shane Birney (Castlebridge); Joe Devereux (Castlebridge) v. David Doyle (Castlebridge).
Shane Birney’s experience should ultimately prevail in this grade against three promising teenagers.