Leitrim’s young guns shoot for the stars in Cairn Community Games National Finals.

Medal success at national level is something which often alludes Leitrim’s juvenile athletes, however our young handball stars once again bucked this trend and consigned any sense of county inferiority to the bin when they secured two hard won Cairn Community Games medals in the national finals played in Drumlish Co. Longford last weekend.

Fenagh’s Sophie Kane playing for the Ballinamore Community games area once again showed why she is a name to watch in ladies 1-wall handball when the young 13 years old fought off older competitors to seal gold in the U16 girl’s national finals. Meanwhile Annaduff’ s Maxim Gilmartin who was representing the Mohill Community games area, won the bronze medal in the boys U16 national final.

Sophie Kane

Sophie’s was presented with a tough drawn against tournament favourite Aoife Walsh from Galway in her first game, but she competently defeated this top Irish player 21-13. This set the pace for the day as Sophie overcame Sligo, Wexford and Monaghan opposition, grinding out 21-11, 21-12 and 21-13 victories respectively. In the national final, which was an all-Connacht affair, Sophie defeating Grace Corrigan from Lisacull Roscommon on a 21-13 scoreline and securing the gold medal for Leitrim and rapturous celebrations.

Maxim Gilmartin started the day by quickly dispatching Cavan and Clare opponents 21-7, 21-9. His quarter final match against Sean Keyes from Meath produced a tough arm wrestle with two evenly matched players exchanging points all the way through the game. Tightly poised at 19 apiece, Maxim had to dig deep to eke out a 21-19 victory and a place in the semi-final against Enrico Patrizi from Westmeath. In the semi-final the Westmeath man gave a masterclass in serves with the eventual U16 Boys champion defeating Maxim 21-6. All was not lost as the plucky Annaduff man regained his composure in the third-place playoff to claim the bronze medal defeating Oisin McGrath from Kildare on a 21-14 scoreline.

Maxim Gilmartin

Leitrim had seven players in contention in the national finals and each proudly represented their county over the weekend. Well done to Abbie Kane representing Ballinamore Community Games area who reached the quarter finals of the girls u13 competition. Also well done to Eimear Ni Thiarnan from Drumshanbo area who was unlucky not to progress in the girls U13 competition too.
Ruairi McKiernan who also representing Drumshanbo area fell short of the medal positions when he bowed out in the boys u13 quarter finals. Eoin Mahon who represented Carrick area was given a very tough opening draw against Westmeath opposition in the boys U16 competition. Despite Eoin’s best efforts his Westmeath opponent prevailed. Conor Cox representing Mohill area gave a gallant performance against strong opposition in his first national finals in the U13 boys competition.

Conor Cox and his Westmeath opponent
Ruairi McKiernan and his Monaghan opponent   |  Maxim Gilmartin and Eoin Mahon
Eimear Ni Thiarnan and her Monaghan opponent | Abbie Kane and her Roscommon opponent

Interestingly all seven Leitrim players will all be eligible to play in their respective categories again next year! More great things to come from this brilliant bunch of athletes.

A special word of thanks to all the coaches and parents for preparing the Leitrim players for the national finals. A big thank you to everybody in Leitrim Community Games and Leitrim Handball for organizing competitions locally. Finally, a word of praise to all the referees and organizers, Longford Community Games, Longford Handball and Drumlish Sports Centre who ran the national finals so efficiently over the weekend.

Inclement weather doesn’t dampen spirits as Manorhamilton 1-wall tournament moved to Drumkeeran.

No outside event can be played in Leitrim without a plan B, this meant that Manorhamilton’s outdoor 2nd level student tournament was played indoor at Drumkeeran handball alley due to the heavy rain that we all experienced. A big thanks to the Drumkeeran team for their facilitation of the event which meant that we were able to run a great event indoors.

Players from Fenagh, Annaduff and Manorhamilton took part, and it was evident from an early stage that the Fenagh and Annaduff players had amassed a lot of experience in competitions already, none more so perhaps than young Abbie Kane from Fenagh who took the girl’s title. She defeated Abbey Miller from Manorhamilton who played some fantastic handball and performed excellently under pressure. Sadhbh Smith and Emma Curry battled it out in the plate competition, but it was Emma who triumphed on this occasion. In the main event there were lots of great games with Cormac Scarff, Daniel Kane, Adam Neary and Gary Cox all progressing. After some very entertaining games it was Daniel and Cormac who reached the final.

(1) Arró O’Reilly and Tadhg Kirwan with JP Kane.   (2) Abbie Kane and runner up Abbey Miller  (3) Sadhbh Smith and girls’ plate winner Emma Curry (4) Daniel Kane and Cormac Scarff 

From the outset you could see the experience that Daniel took into the final match, and he looked very comfortable at the front, but Cormac dug deep, and his competitive edge really came to the fore as he in turn moved forward to dominate the front. In the end it was Cormac who prevailed, taking the title on a scoreline of 15 12.

Finally, the plate competition was won by Arró O’Reilly who after an initial loss in the main competition put on a very dominant performance in the plate, however in the final Tadhg Kirwan really pushed him to the limit with some excellent play especially with his left and over hand. Arró really looked back to form and will be looking forward to the Connacht one wall later in the year.
Thanks to coach and referee Anthony O’Flynn and to Gráinne Mc Garty for hospitality as well as to the Drumkeeran club. Manorhamilton will host a national school competition next week.

Annaduff, Fenagh, Manorhamilton players and supporters at the 2nd level 1-wall tournament played in Drumkeeran.

David Mahon
OCP Liathroid Láimhe Liatroma
https://www.facebook.com/LeitrimHandball