Intriguing Senior Softball Doubles finals down for decision

By Paul Fitzpatrick

The stage is set for what will be two very intriguing Senior Softball Doubles finals this Saturday afternoon at the National Handball Centre, Croke Park (1pm), between neighbours Meath and Westmeath ain the Men's final and Galway and Limerick in the Ladies.

In the first of last weekend’s semi-finals, the Royals’ Gary McConnell and Brian Carroll defeated former finalists Martin and Diarmuid Mulkerrins of Galway 21-8, 20-21, 11-2 while Westmeath’s Robbie McCarthy and Colm Jordan ran out 21-12, 21-12 victors against last year’s runners-up Eoin Kennedy and Carl Browne from Dublin.

Meath came into their match full of confidence following an impressive 21-8, 21-7 quarter-final win against Wexford pair Gavin Buggy and Mark Doyle in last Saturday’s quarter-final and they started brightly in the semi.

With McConnell in dominant form on the left, they led 12-3 and 19-4. Martin Mulkerrins switched to the right side on serve in an attempt to mix things up and the Tribesmen clawed it back to 8-19 but Meath closed out the first.

The Kells pair seemed to be comfortable in game two when they opened an early 7-4 lead; Galway overhauled them to go 13-9 in front but Meath edged ahead again and were leading 20-16.

However, the Moycullen men survived some long, energy-sapping rallies to tie the game at 20-20 and a tricky lob serve from Diarmuid Mulkerrins deceived McConnell for the winner.

Meath, though, drew on their experience in the tiebreaker race to 11 and were more clinical in the front court as they closed it out 11-2 to make yet another senior decider.

Lying in wait are Westmeath, who delivered a superb performance to take down the Dubs. McCarthy in particular was in scintillating form on the left as he took most of the play and controlled proceedings, covering the court effortlessly and finding his range on kills while Jordan, a native of Fermoy in Co Cork and a former Intermediate Singles champion himself, held the short line to good effect and served well.

The early going was tight; Westmeath threatened to pull away but Dublin, with Kennedy going well, stayed with them. However, they couldn’t get their noses in front and Westmeath accelerated from 12-10 to win 21-12.

Game two followed a slightly different pattern as Dublin fell 4-0 behind before reeling off nine successive points. However, Westmeath caught them at 12 and again surged clear to win with a bit to spare.

McConnell and Carroll have won four Senior Doubles crowns together in the big alley, with right-side specialist Carroll having previously won the title seven times in tandem with Tom Sheridan.

McCarthy, of course, needs no introduction. With 11 All-Ireland Senior Singles titles to his name in the 60x30 court, he is already an all-time great and now seeks to gild his legend with a first Senior Doubles crown.

Jordan, a veteran at this stage of his career and an accomplished player in his own right, will be seeking a first Celtic Cross at senior level and Meath will undoubtedly look to put pressure on the towering right-side player.

Meath will start as favourites given their stellar record but a close and novel final is in store.

Meanwhile, there will be a new name on the cup in the Ladies Senior Doubles.

For the longest time, one pairing – Cork’s Catriona Casey and Aishling O’Keeffe – towered over the field in this grade. The Ballydesmond women, while pushed close on occasion, proved nigh-on-unbeatable for over a decade but, in their absence, new teams have stepped up this season and it has culminated in a novel and highly intriguing decider at HQ.

4-Wall champions Ciana Ní Churaoin and Niamh Heffernan of Galway qualified for their first All-Ireland Senior Ladies Softball Doubles decider with a very impressive win over the Westmeath-Wexford partnership of Jodie Keeling and Aoife McCarthy and will come into the match full of confidence.

The Tribeswomen were in awesome form in the first as they ran out 21-0 winners but the second game was tighter. The teams were level at 10 before Galway pushed on to win it from there, 21-10.

Both Heffernan and Ní Churraoin have tremendous records in the 4-Wall and wallball codes but although Ciana has won Minor Singles and Doubles and Intermediate Singles in the big alley, their exposure to top-level play at senior level in softball has been limited.

However, their entry to the fray is more than welcome and they have adapted very well to date. There will be nothing easy in today’s final, however.

The Micheál Breathnachs/Claregalway partnership will face the formidable Martina McMahon and partner Aisling Shanahan in the final after the Treaty ladies saw off Kilkenny duo of Amy Brennan and Aoife Holden on a 21-10, 21-5 scoreline in their semi-final.

Lefty McMahon, the world wallball champion and former Senior Softball Singles winner, who recently claimed the Irish Nationals crown in Wexford, was in imperious form, shooting the lights out from all angles as Limerick advanced to what has the makings of an excellent final.

McMahon needs no introduction; her power, attacking arsenal and big-game temperament have elevated her to the very top level of the game and having recovered from a career-threatening back injury, she has been in tremendous form over the last 12 months.

Martina is regarded as one of the best female players the game has seen and partner Aisling is a quality handballer in her own right too. Among her biggest accomplishments to date is the All-Ireland U17 Singles in the 60x30 court in 2018 and she would dearly love to get her hands on a Celtic Cross at senior level this weekend.

The matches will be streamed live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel.