ALL-IRELAND 60X30 CHAMPIONSHIPS 2015

By tyronepro Mon 19th Oct

Devlin and McCrystall in All-Ireland junior doubles final…

Tyrone Juveniles bidding for All-Ireland final places this Sunday…

The 60×30 handball season has been progressing rapidly in recent weeks and Loughmacrory will play host this Sunday to some cracking All-Ireland juvenile semi-final ties as the Ulster champions meet top opposition from Kildare, Kilkenny and Wexford.

The All-Ireland adult semi-finals were completed last weekend as Tyrone’s Ryan Mullan and Patrick McCrory missed out agonisingly on a place in the All-Ireland under-21 doubles final following a thrilling semi-final clash with Wexford pair, Galen Riordan and Bryan Kehoe.

The Carrickmore duo won the opening game 21-20 and it looked like Ryan might avenge his singles semi-final defeat at the hands of Riordan, but the Tyrone men were pegged back in the second game before eventually going down on a 21-17 scoreline in the third.

Barry Devlin and Gabhain McCrystall had enjoyed better fortunes against Wexford in last Thursday night’s junior doubles semi-final in Loughmacrory, which turned out to be a thriller.

Having earlier suffered a slender defeat to Wexford’s Paul Lambert in his singles semi-final, Barry was determined to make amends in the doubles eliminator against Lambert and his partner, Paddy Haughton.

Despite losing the opening game, he pulled out the stops along with Gabhain to ensure a stunning 21-15 victory in the deciding game, having brought the tie level with a 21-16 win in the second.

Joining the Breacach pair in the forthcoming All-Ireland 60×30 finals programme will be Loughmacrory’s Finbarr Fullen and Kenny Curran who followed up their recent Ulster final win over Cavan with an impressive All-Ireland semi-final win over Kildare in Ballymore Eustace.

The Tyrone men had to come from behind twice in their silver masters doubles encounter with James Travers and Brendan Higginbotham, registering the last four aces in each game to clinch a 21-19, 21-20 triumph.

With Sean Kerr, Jack Campbell, Eilise McCrory and Aoife Kelly all bowing out of the All-Ireland minor boys and girls events at the penultimate stage, Tyrone will now feature in two ‘big alley’ finals at adult level in 2015, with Gabhain McCrystall and Barry Devlin meeting Limerick in the junior doubles decider on 31^st October and Kenny Curran and Finbarr Fullen taking on Tipperary on the same day.

Also scheduled for the end of October are the All-Ireland 60×30 juvenile finals, and this coming weekend will reveal how strongly represented Tyrone will be in the finals programme as the county plays host to the champions of Leinster in seven semi-final ties this Sunday in Loughmacrory, beginning at 12 noon.

The Tyrone challenge will begin with Caitlin Conway in the girls under-14 singles semi-final against Kildare’s Leah Doyle, and the girls action will continue with Emer Kerr and Elizabeth McGarvey in the under-14 doubles, Ciara Mullin in the under-15 singles, and Michaela McCartan in the under-16 singles, with all of the Tyrone girls facing tough ties.

The boys’ action will see Tyrone’s Lorcan McBride step up his quest for an All-Ireland double at under-14 level, following his 40×20 success back in March, with Turlough Clarke and Antoin Fox later teaming up to face Wexford in the under-16 doubles and Pauric Mullin tackling Kildare in the under-17 singles semi-final.

All-Ireland juvenile 60×30 semi-finals…
Sunday 18^th October in Loughmacrory @ 12 noon…

GU14S Tyrone (Caitlin Conway) v Kildare (Leah Doyle)
GU14D Tyrone (Emer Kerr/Elizabeth McGarvey) v Kilkenny (Noelle Dowling/Roisin O’Keeffe)
BU14S Tyrone (Lorcan McBride) v Kilkenny (Jack Holden)
GU15S Tyrone (Ciara Mullin) v Kilkenny (Dearbhail O’Keeffe)
GU16S Tyrone (Michaela McCartan) v Kildare (Mollie Dagg)
BU16D Tyrone (Turlough Clarke/Antoin Fox) v Wexford (Anthony Butler/Patrick Boland)
BU17S Tyrone (Pauric Mullan) v Kildare (Kevin Diggins)