THE last of the O'Neills Tyrone Adult Handball Championships was decided when newly crowned Ulster Intermediate doubles champions, Niall Kerr (Brackey) and Darragh Daly (Carrickmore), teamed up to collect the county senior doubles honours. Following an epic decider with Loughmacrory's Chris Curran and Martin Toner, the duo claimed the title courtesy of an 11-8 tie-break victory.
For Daly it was a case of securing a first senior medal while his vastly experienced doubles partner was adding a fifth senior title to his credit from 10 county senior final appearances – an impressive record indeed.
The combination were firing on all cylinders in the opening game and had established an unassailable 16-4 lead before Curran and Toner began to battle their way back into contention. A 21-9 win in the opening game for Kerr and Daly suggested a comfortable contest but Curran and Toner hit a purple patch on the resumption to level the match at one game apiece, with a 21-17 second game victory. Curran, who was competing in his 14th county senior final, and Toner, who was in his third, appeared to seize the initiative in the tie-break too as they lead 6-2. However, Kerr and Daly hit a rich vein to then go 10-6 in front and although the Loughmacrory pairing came back to 8-10, it was the Carrickmore and Brackey combination who held out to acquire the decisive winning ace.
Result: O'Neills Tyrone Senior Doubles Final: Niall Kerr and Darragh Daly (Brackey/Carrickmore) bt Chris Curran and Martin Toner (Loughmacrory) 21-9, 17-21, 11-8.
JUNIOR DOUBLES TITLE FOR LOUGHMACRORY
In the O'Neills Junior Doubles Championship, it was Loughmacrory's Joseph Kelly and Ryan Keenan who came away with the spoils following another tie-break encounter. The duo were forced to pull out all the stops before getting the better of Pomeroy's Martin Begley and Kieran Devlin in Beragh. Kelly, who won the Division 2 league title this term and Keenan stormed to an impressive opening game win by 21-7 but it was Begley and Devlin who came back to claim the second by 21-12. They were level at 2-2 in the tie-break before Kelly and Keenan asserted and they pulled away to take the honours by 11-4.
O'Neills Tyrone Junior Doubles Final: Joseph Kelly & Ryan Keenan (Loughmacrory) bt Martin Begley & Kieran Devlin (Pomeroy) 21-7, 12-21, 11-4.
9 OUT OF 10 ULSTERS FOR TYRONE PLAYERS
Tyrone's resurgent form in the sport was highlighted in no uncertain terms over the past fortnight at provincial level as the O'Neill County made it a very impressive nine title wins from ten Ulster championships over the weekend. At minor level, Conor Duff and Brian Donaghy teamed up for an emphatic Ulster doubles triumph as they defeated Down by 21-3, 21-1. With that duo set to compete on Tuesday in the Minor singles final, it will be a clean sweep for the county in the grade. The same is true at Under 21 level as Gary McCrory claimed the singles championship in that grade with a 21-15, 21-10 final win over Padraig McGlinchey to follow up that duo's doubles success a week earlier.
In the Junior B grade, Ruairi Kelly, who looks to be a warm favourite for All-Ireland honours, powered his way to Ulster singles championship honours.
Shane O'Neill, fresh from his first ever O'Neills Senior championship triumph, completed the doubles at Junior level.
Adding to his doubles success with Mark McCartan, O'Neill defeated James Brady 21-17, 21-8 to collect in the Ulster Junior singles championships on Sunday at Gort na Mona. Niall Kerr and Darragh Daly, who had teamed up to win the Ulster Intermediate doubles crown, were in action last night as they squared up to each other in the provincial Intermediate singles decider.
TEAMTALK UNDER 12 BLITZ WIN FOR BRACKEY
Pol Clarke, Gabhan McCrystal, Johnny Woods and Matthew McSorley became the first team to win the Teamtalk Under 12 Club Team blitz when they defeated Carrickmore in the inaugural final on Sunday. The Brackey team trailed their rivals in the final by 2-0 when Patrick McCrory and Corey McElduff beat Gabhan McCrystal and Johnny Woods by 15-14, 15-7 in the opening game.
Pol Clarke and Matthew McSorley then teamed up to defeat Ryan Mullan and Gerard Keenan in the second game by 15-5, 15-7 and thus take the title by a margin of 9 aggregate aces. In the Under 12 'B' Blitz it was reveresed as Carrickmore's team of Paul McKay, Aidan McCallan, Conor Keenan and Conan McElduff defeated Brackey's Finbar Clarke, Ryan Owens, Meabh McElduff and Seamus Boyle by 3-1.
CARRICKMORE CLAIM UNDER 10 BLITZ
In the Under 10 'A' Blitz the final could not have been closer. In a round robin series, Carrickmore's team of Niall Allison, Jack McCallan, Ronan McKay and Pauric Mullan claimed the honours with one point to spare over Loughmacrory (Cormac Harte, Ryan Curran, Aoife Kelly and Conal Donaghy) with the Brackey team (Sean Kerr, Aaron Owens, Turlough Clarke, Tiernan Meenagh, Oisin Donnelly) in third place. Carrickmore finished with 7 points (83 aces) ahead of Loughmacrory on 6 points (82 aces).
In the Under 10 'B' Blitz it was the Loughmacrory team comprising Cathair Curran, Martin McCullagh, Oisin O'Kane and Colm Logue who claimed the honours, defeating their fellow club team of Ruairi Curran, Michael Rafferty, Shane McCrystal and Matthew Donnelly and the Brackey team of Emmett Lyttle, Oisin Clarke, Niamh Clarke and Owen Grimes came in third place.
