Egan and McCarthy claim second All-Ireland handball title

Tang's Niamh Egan and Mullingar's Aoife McCarthy collected their second All-Ireland Junior Doubles title of the year last weekend, when they defeated Limerick's Jacqui Enright and Siobhan Lehane in Mullingar in the M Donnelly GAA Handball 60 x 30 Championship. The Limerick ladies opened strongly to take an early 8-1 lead in the first game and looked the more composed of the pairings. However, the Westmeath duo soon settled into their stride however, with McCarthy serving well on the left and Egan controlling play on the right. Aided by some top-class serving from McCarthy, the pair won the first game 21-10, but struggled to carry that form into the second and went 7-0 down early in the second. "We seemed to find it hard to contend with Siobhan's serving early in both games, but when we adapted our returns, things got better for us," said Egan. "We knew we would have to play well in both games and winning really topped of a great season for us." McCarthy was victorious in the Junior Singles Final against Lehane two weeks previous, and was confident ahead of the clash. "I knew we had a great chance going into the final, so it was just a matter of holding our nerves," said McCarthy. "It look us a while to get going, but thankfully, we came good at the right time." The Westmeath girls took the second game 21-10 to take victory and add another title to their growing list of accolades. For McCarthy it was her fourth All-Ireland title of the year, while Egan took her third crown, having also won the Ladies B One-Wall Nationals title in July. The girls will now take a one week break from training, but with the Golden Gloves set to take place in Belfast on October 30th and 31st, pre-season for the small court must begin shortly. The Irish Handball Council also announced last week that Westmeath senior handballer, Robbie McCarthy, will represent Ireland at the Federations Cup in Nizza-Monferato, Italy, in November having reached the final of the Men's Open One-Wall Nationals this year.