An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir July/August 2015 www.dfmagazine.ie 36 | DF One-Wall Handball Championships 2015 by SGT ERIC O'BRIEN, 1 INF BN T he 3rd Annual Defence Forces One-Wall handball Championships took place in ballygar on 4th June 2015, with 34 players attending. The Novice was by far the largest category, players who had only hit a ball last week were mixed in with players who had only taken up the sport a few months before, but proved that they had potential to become the next Ducksie, Brady or McCarthy, by showing a great natural talent and keen hunger to get to every ball. The Novice was eventually wittled down to S/S Conor Keegan and Pte Tomás Dunne, with some early favourties being taken out at the early stages. The final was a fine battle, but Dunne proved too strong for his opponent and took the gold for Kilkenny. The Junior Cham- pionship was a battle between Galway and Kilkenny, but the Cats were again to prove too strong for the Tribesmen, an all Kilkenny final of Pte Damien Brennan and Pte Darren Darcy. Darcy proved that anyone can take to sport in only a matter of months if they put in a small amount of training each week, and this was evident in the Junior final, but Brennan was no pushover and brought the final to a nail-biting tie breaker, eventually losing to Darcy 2-0. The Intermediate Championships were in a round robin format, with the player to win two games being declared the winner (total aces being the next deciding factor). This saw Cpl Eddie Clifford, Pte JJ Hennessy and Tpr Stephen Smullen battle it out in front of an always packed spectator area for some excitingly close rallies and savage serves. Clifford even- tually beat the two others to be declared the Intermediate Champion for 2015. The highlight of the day was always going to be the Senior Championship, with Sgt Glen O'Kelly looking to retain his title against the current DF Doubles and 40x20 Champion (not to mention the Irish Team Captain for this years WHC), O/ Mech Robbie McCarthy Jr. This match was a display of strength, skill and fitness at a high level, with both men letting no ball past them and not afraid to stand their ground. O'Kelly took 4 and 1 from McCarthy Jr, but only after McCarthy had warmed up and started returning balls only millimeters above the floor each time he hit the ball. The winners were: Senior Champ - O/Mech Robbie McCarthy Jr, NS Intermediate Champ - Cpl Eddie Clifford, 3 Inf Bn Junior Champ - Pte Darren Darcy, 3 Inf Bn Novice Champ - Pte Tomás Dunne, 3 Inf Bn (This now has O/Mech McCarthy holding all DF Senior Handball titles.) The Defence Forces played An Garda Síochána (GS) in Galway on 19th June in the first DF v GS One-Wall Competition on the new One-Wall built there. Final score: DF 95 V 56 GS, which sees the DF winning after three previous defeats. 2 Bde/dftc Shield O n 11th May the 2 bde/DFTC Shield Final was played in the DF Sports Grounds in the Phoenix Park between Cathal brugha bks Team and Athlone bks Team. The victors were Cathal brugha bks by the tightest of margins on a score line of 4-05 to 2-10. The teams, made up of a combina- tion of units from within each barracks also featured a number of inter-county players (Offaly, Longford, Roscommon and Kildare), who will line out in the coming weeks in the football championship. Photos: Capt Joseph Freeley, 2 Bde PIO Group Shot of the DF One-Wall Championship 2015 O/Mech Robbie McCarthy Jr (NS) Senior Champion and Sgt Glen O'Kelly (TIS Kilbride) Senior Runner-Up.

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