An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir July/August 2016 www.dfmagazine.ie 36 | by SáIRSINT ERIC O'BRIEN, 1 CN COIS PHotoS by CPL NEVILLE COUGHLAN O n 1st June the Defence Forces took to the courts at the new Clough ballacolla HC one- Wall facility in ballacolla, Co Laois. the 4th running of this annual event had a new trophy up for grabs - the 'Volunteers Cup' for this year's senior champion. Prior to this event, one- Wall blitzes were held to prepare the troops for what lay ahead, these were on the courts in Dún Uí Mhao- ilíosa, Galway and Cathal brugha bks, Dublin. the DF would also use the championships to select their team to take on country's best at the Wall ball Nationals in July. Over 30 competitors made the journey to the midlands in what was to be a highly fought out contest. The categories were novice (10 minute games), junior, intermediate and senior (first to score 15 aces). The Novice category was a knock- out format, with a Runners-Up Plate for players knocked out in the first round. The third round saw one of the games of the day between two of the favourites, S/S Jim Suffin nar- rowly defeated S/S Conor Keegan (both 1 Cn Cois) 13-10 to advance to the semi-finals. In the Runners-Up plate, the semi-finals were both decided by an ace, with the final being a battle between Pte Robert Donlon (6 Inf Bn) and Pte Robert McDonagh (6 Inf Bn), with Donlon edging the win in the last seconds to come out the victor at 13-12. In the Novice Championship Semi-Fi- nals, S/S Liam Sinnott (1 Cn Cois) steam- rolled his way to the semi, but was defeated by a new kid on the block Tpr Stephen Monaghan (2 Cav Sqn) 15-4. S/S Jim Suffin took on Pte Darren Cornally (3 Inf Bn) in another thriller that went 11-10 to Suffin. This set up the Novice Final where both Suffin and Monaghan would battle it out after a long day on the court. Both men attacked every ball, Suffin started to pull away after a deter- mined battle to finish out the game 11-8. The Junior Championships was a round-robin, with the top two players facing off in a final, S/S Joe Doherty (1 Cn Cois) and Pte Keith Mullarney (6 Inf Bn). These two old-hands had been on the One-Wall circuit for a few years and were determined to climb the category ladder with a win in front of the crowd and Mr Willie Roache (President, GAA Handball). A battle ensued that ran over 22 minutes. Hand-Out on the serve, followed hand-out on the serve until Doherty got comfortable and won the final 15-12. The Intermediate Final was be- tween Pte Denis Dowd (3 Inf Bn) and S/S John Hurley (1 Cn Cois), in a game to remem- ber that lasted 32 minutes. Ace for ace, the men fought. At the last hand out to Dowd, the game was 13-13. It couldn't have been quieter on the serve, but Dowd's ace awakened the crowd. Hurley, awaited the last possible serve of the final, but took a fly ball to kill it off the wall and take back the serve. 2 aces, would turn the fixture around to a win and seal vic- tory for Hurley. His serve was low and hard, but Dowd intercepted a left hand shot to start a rally that ended in Dowd catching a ball and sending Hurley the wrong way around the court to take back the serve. At 14-13, Dowd just needed one good strike and that he did with a drop serve to the back of the court to take the last ace and the Intermediate Shield for 2016. DEFENCE FORCES ONE WALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016 Are you interested in playing handball at any level (PDF or RDF), contact Sáir Eric O'Brien (1 Cn Cois) at Ext: 1840 or your BPEO. Beginners are particularly welcome and our One-Wall facilities in Galway, Dublin, Cork or Kilkenny are available for training by DF members.

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