Last weekend Mallow Handball Club hosted the Mallow Credit Union Cork County 40×20 Handball Championship Finals, which saw handballers competing in ages ranging from Under 8 to Under 17.

Of the seventeen finals held over the weekend Mallow Handball Club won a total of six, namely: Under 14 Singles winner Cian O’Driscoll, Under 14 Doubles winners Aaron O’Connor / Anthony O’Connell, Under 15 Singles winner Michael O’Malley, Under 15 Doubles winners Conor Walsh / Niall Delany, Under 16 Singles winner Tadhg O’Neill, Under 17 Singles winner Darragh Moynihan (Capt.). This is Mallow Handball Clubs thirteenth time winning the County Shield, which is awarded to the club, which wins the most Cork County 40X20 Juvenile Finals.
Cian O’Driscoll and Michael O’Malley both saw off their respective opponents with very decisive wins in the under 14 and under 15 singles. Both boys are showing good form at the moment and are back together as a doubles pair this weekend coming representing the Patrician Academy in the 40×20 Colleges Competition.

The under 14 team Aaron O’Connor/Anthony O’Connell played well, except for a bit of a hiccup after winning the first game 15/5, they then lost the second game 3/15, it was vital for the club that the two boys get their act together which to be fair they did and came back to win the tie breaker 15/8.

The under 15 doubles teams Conor Walsh / Niall Delany made hard work of their first game, letting Ballydesmond rack up ten aces in quick succession but the boy put the game to bed 15/13. In the second game, after a few words of encouragement from their banisteoir they took command from the off and won with an impressive score 15/3.

The under 16 Singles winner Tadhg O’Neill played Tadhg Jones from Liscarrol in games that didn’t go on for too long.

The Under 17 Singles winner Darragh Moynihan (Capt.) played Oisin Hickey from Kilworth in the most exciting match of the competition. These two handballers were well prepared for this dual both physically & mentally. The first game was won by Darragh 21/14. Oisin made Darragh earn point but the Mallow man replayed all the compliments with intrest. Impossible balls put down low on the left by Oisin were dug out and returned with ease by Darragh. Long rallies ensued in the second game but Oisin got the upper hand and took the game 14/21 and Darragh now found himself in a tiebreaker situation. Both players were exhausted and the tension the alley was palpable. Then Ken O’Neill (An Banisteoir) with a stroke of pure genius managed to persuade Darragh that the tiebreaker was up to 21. It wasn’t, it was actually up to 11. This resulted in Darragh starting the tiebreaker game like a man possessed, his strategy seemed to be rack up as many aces as possible and tire out his opponent. The look on Darraghs face was pretty priceless when the, Tadgh Carroll called the game and match to Darragh 11/7.

Mallow’s success are as a direct result of the commitment of the young handballers and the dedication of their coaches namely: Ken O’Neill, Dale Cusack, Don Carroll, George O’Malley, Tadgh Carroll, Killian Carroll & Paul O’Driscoll. Mallow Handball Club would like to thank the parents of our young handballers who without their assistance, cooperation and commitment the club would not be one of the most successful clubs in the country.