McElduff claims Tyrone GAA Handball Premier League crown

Breacach’s Conor McElduff claimed his first Tyrone GAA Handball Premier League title on Tuesday night following a terrific battle with Shane O’Neill in Beragh. McElduff, the Teamtalkmag GAA Handballer of the Year in Tyrone for the past two years, has certainly enjoyed another fantastic start to his new season challenges and was forced on this occasion to produce some of his best handball to date to deny the reigning four times premier league winner.
The opening exchanges in this contest proved very finely balanced and following a series of intensely contested rallies the duo found themselves deadlocked at 5-5. It was then that O’Neill broke to lead 13-5 but again the McElduff came back strongly and soon levelled the game again at 13-13, the contest taking some 40 minutes at this stage alone. O’Neill went 17-14 in front again though but after some fantastic rallying and an absolute lung-bursting 30 shot rally they were level at 17-17. From there McElduff appeared to take a grip on the match and won the opening game 21-17.
The second game saw O’Neill quickly into his stride again and he did lead 4-1 before they were back neck and neck again at 5-5. Some excellent offensive play to the corners from McElduff then proved decisive though and he gradually opened up a margin to lead 12-15 and while O’Neill delivered 5 unanswered aces to make it 12-10, Conor soon had the momentum back in his favour to go 17-10 in front. In typical resillient fashion though O’Neill grabbed a flurry of aces to make it 17-15 but was effectively chasing the game still and McElduff held his nerve to storm to the finishing line on a 21-17 scoreline.
A terrific league final indeed for the packed crowd in Beragh, despite the adverse weather conditions, and sees Conor McElduff claim the first senior silverware of the 40×20 season in Tyrone. Next up will be the Mens Open Senior Singles championship in the county but that will actually follow a host of provincial championship games scheduled over the coming fortnight, with the Ulster Mens Open Senior Singles Championship down for this weekend in Kingscourt.
Full Ulster Championship fixtures are listed below.
Campbell claims Division 1 League honours
The Premier League final was preceded by this year’s Division 1 final as Breacach’s Jack Campbell faced Loughmacrory’s Joseph Kelly for the 2014/15 honours. Kelly had exhibited top class form in his semi final win over Sean Kerr and was fancied in this title decider but Jack Campbell was in super form on the night.
His retrieving in particular was superb and his ability to constantly peg back Kelly’s offensive play in a series of tough rallies had a major bearing on the final result. In the end Campbell ran out the winner of the 2014/15 Division 1 league with a 21-14, 21-13 victory. He will now set his sights on County and Ulster Minor championship challenges and will also go in with a favourites chance in the Tyrone Mens Senior B Singles Championship which commences next week. Full fixtures for those will be released by the weekend.
Division 2 Title for Conor Kerr
Breacach’s Conor Kerr secured the first Tyrone GAA Handball league title of the new season following his Division 2 Final win over club colleague, Seamus McCrory, on Saturday evening in Beragh. Conor, a former Senior double winner in the County, won an epic 1 hour opening game 21-16 and although he held a 16-6 lead in the second, Seamus battled back to level the match with a 21-18 win in that second game. The tie break saw the pendulum swing back in favour of Conor though and he took the honours by 11-4.
Tyrone Attic Stairs League finals in weekend ahead
The Tyrone Attic Stairs GAA Handball League action will conclude in the weekend ahead with the championships also to get underway. A total of three finals will be played on Saturday evening, starting at 4pm in Beragh. The Girls Division 3 Dark Blue final will be an all Breacach affair following the semi finals which saw wins for Michaela McCartan and Elizabeth McGarvey. Michaela had a 15-3, 15-5 win over Loughmacrory’s Mairead Fox while Elizabeth McGarvey went to a tie-break to deny Loughmacrory’s Caitlin Conway in the other semi fnial by 11-15, 15-2, 11-5.
The Dark Blue Division 2 final will see Carrickmore’s Lorcan McBride meet the winners of Wednesday night’s other semi final involving Shane Grimes and Colm Logue. McBride defeated Conor Kelly 15-7, 15-5 in his semi final while Colm Logue overcame Nathan McCrory in a quarter-final playoff, 15-6, 9-15, 11-1 to set up a semi final meeting with Shane Grimes.
In the Adult Division 4 league, Ceapach’s Liam McCarney booked his place in this year’s final with a 15-5, 15-5 win over club colleague Brendan Gallagher. He will now meet Breacach’s Micky Owens in the Division 4 League final on Saturday evening after he defeated club colleague, Sean Owens, 15-6, 15-5 in their semi final meeting on Sunday evening.
The Division 3 League Final has been rescheduled to conclude the programme of finals in Beragh on Saturday evening as Breacach duo, Turlough Clarke and Gerard Conroy face-off for the Division 3 honours, both having shown excellent form through the league.
The only League decider remaining will be the Division 1 Dark Blue grade in which Loughmacrory’s Antoin Fox is to face Carrickmore’s Cormac Munroe. Fox has been in excellent form, finishing top of the table in the league stages and overcame Maeve McElduff 15-7, 15-11 in the semi final while Munroe defeated clubmate Ciaran Cuddy by 15-9, 15-13 in their semi final meeting.
A review of all league finals will be in next week’s edition. All 2015 Tyrone Attic Stairs GAA Handball Championship fixtures for Juvenile and Adult Grades will be released the weekend.
SATURDAY 17th January 2015, Beragh, 4pm:
DARK BLUE DIVISION 3 LEAGUE FINAL: Michaela McCartan (Breacach) v Elizabeth McGarvey (Breacach)
DARK BLUE DIVISION 2 LEAGUE FINAL: Lorcan McBride (Carrickmore) v Shane Grimes (Loughmacrory) OR Colm Logue (Loughmacrory)
DIVISION 4 LEAGUE FINAL: Liam McCarney, Ceapach v Micky Owens, Breacach
DIVISION 3 LEAGUE FINAL: Gerard Conroy (Breacach) v Turlough Clarke (Breacach)
Tyrone GAA Handball AGM on Wednesday 21st January
The annual convention of Tyrone GAA Handball will now go ahead on Wednesday 21st January 2015 at Beragh. The AGM was cancelled from it’s initial date of 14th January due to the adverse weather conditions.
Tyrone players in Ulster Championships
The GAA Handball Ulster 40×20 championships got underway at the weekend and will continue each weekend up until finals weekends in February. This will mean that County Championships will run concurrently midweek in this period. Tyrone will again go to the annual 40×20 provincial championships with a strong hand to play in most grades with much of the action down for decision this weekend. The Mens and Ladies Open Singles Championship events will be played to conclusion over the weekend with four Tyrone players involved in the Mens Open event. Darragh Daly and Shane O’Neill will meet in the quarter finals on Saturday while Johnny Woods takes on Owen McKenna and Caolan Daly faces Charly Shanks. In the Ladies Open, Maeve McElduff will play Down’s Lorraine Havern in the semi final on Saturday with the final on Sunday.
Ulster Intermediate Singles Championship:
Thursday 15th January
A. Johnny Woods v Patrick Clerkin, in Monaghan Harps, 7pm
B. James Brady v Mark McGowan, in Kingscourt, 7pm
C. Caolan Daly v Mark Marley, in Beragh, 7pm
Ulster Minor Singles Championship:
Sunday January 18th
B. Conal Doyle v Jack Campbell, in Gort Na Mona, 1pm
A. Brian McAnenley v Mark McDonnell, in Monaghan Harps, 1pm
Ulster Junior Singles Championship:
Saturday January 17th
In Bawn, Monaghan, 4pm
A. Conor O Gorman v Eddie Halligan
C. Padraig Cahill v Terry Kiernan
D. Barry Devlin v Michael Duffy [Jun]
In Eugene Quinn, Armagh, 3pm
B Sean Digney v Darryl Dolan
E Paul Fitzpatrick v Jim Cunningham
F Cormac McMahon v Tony O Connor
Sunday 18th January
In Kingscourt 3.30pm
1. Conor McElduff v Winner A, Court 1
2. Winner B v Winner C, Court 2
3. Winner D v Winner E, Court 1
4. Terry McElvaney v Winner F, Court 2
Under 21 Singles Championship:
Saturday 17th January
In Eugene Quinn, Armagh, 1pm
A. Stephen Digney v Conell McKenna
Sunday 18th January
In Loughmacrory, 2pm
1. Darren Doherty v Winner A
2. Pol Clarke v Jordan O Neill
3. Eugene McGeough v Patrick Mccrory
4. Gabhainn McCrystall v Ryan Mullan
Masters B Singles Championship:
Sunday 18th January, Gort Na Mona, 2pm
A. Chris Curran v Peter Mc Dwyer, Court 1
B. Mark McCartan v Noel Roberts, Court 2
C. Michael Clerkin v Rory Grogan, Court 1
D. Seamus McCrory v Dominic Marley, Court 2
Silver Masters Singles Championship:
Sunday 18th January, Gort Na Mona, 4pm
A. Cormac Sherry v Paddy Nicholl
B. Sean Patterson v Finbar Fullen
C. Kenny Curran v Michael Owen McMahon
Mens Open Singles Championship:
Saturday January 17th, In Kingscourt, Cavan
Quarter Finals:
A. Darragh Daly v Shane O Neill, 12noon
B. Owen McKenna v Johnny Woods, 1.30pm – Court 1
C. Charly Shanks v Caolan Daly, 1.30pm – Court 2
Semi Finals
1. Michael Finnegan v Winner A, 3.30pm Court 1
2. Winner B v Winner C, 4.30pm Court 2
Sunday January 18th, in Kingscourt, 2pm (Court 1)
Final: Winner 1 v Winner 2
Ladies Open Singles Championship:
Saturday January 17th, in Eugene Quinn Armagh, 2pm
A. Lorraine Havern v Maeve McElduff
Sunday January 18th, in Kingscourt, 1pm (Court 1)
Final: Aisling Reilly v Winner A
Ulster 40×20 Adult Doubles Championships 2015
Junior B Doubles
Saturday 24th Jan Armagh 2pm
A Jarlath McCarthey / Fergal McConville v Declan Smith / Partner
B Matthew McCartan / Aaron Owens v Brian Reilly / Adrian Fitzpatrick
C Shane Briody / Cathal Sheridan v Spillane Martin / Gerard Conroy
Saturday 24 Jan Beragh 4pm
D Conor Keenan / Gerard Keenan v Brian McGuirk / Colin Donnelly
E Michael Temple / Cormac Muldoon v Shane McKenna / Adrian McKenna
Sunday 25 Jan Armagh 2pm
1 Conor Flynn / Armstrong v Winner A
2 Winner B v Winner C
Sunday 25 Jan Loughmacrory 2pm
3 Joseph Kelly / Eamon McCrory v Winner D
4 McAtamney / Smith v Winner E
Junior Doubles
Sunday 25th Jan Bawn 2pm
A Terry McElvaney / Conor O Gorman v Cormac McMahon / Darryl Dolan
Sunday 25th Jan in Monaghan Harps 2pm
B Paul Fitzpatrick / Eddie Halligan v Tony O Connor / Jim Cunningham
C Sean Digney / Paul Shields v Michael Duffy [Jun] and Partner
Masters B
Sunday 25th Jan Saval 2pm
A Dominic Marley / McShane v Michael Clerkin / Brendan Finnan
B Noel Roberts / McGrattan v Peter Mc Dwyer / Partner
Silver Masters B
Sunday 25 Jan Saval 3pm
A Philip O Neill / Sean Patterson / Michael Owen McMahon / Cormac Sherry
Under 21
Sunday 25 Jan Saval 4pm
Jordan O Neill / McCann v Eugene McGeough / Gavin Coyle
Please Note the Following Dates
Jan 31st / Feb 1st – All Ulster Singles Semi Finals
Feb 7th/ Feb 8th – All Ulster Doubles Semi Finals PLUS Mens Open Doubles
Feb 14th/ Feb 15th – All Ulster Singles Finals
Feb 21st / Feb 22nd – All Ulster Doubles Finals