GAA Handball

Round-up: Weekend's All-Ireland Senior Softball action

04 August 2025 - 3:37PM

Gary McConnell in action. Photo by Stephen Marken

By Paul Fitzpatrick

A hectic weekend of action saw the fields in the All-Ireland Senior Softball Singles whittled down to four in the Men's and Ladies grades.

Recently-crowned Senior Doubles champion Gary McConnell survived a scare as he dropped the first game against Sligo youngster Cormac Finn and trailed 15-1 in the second only to launch a brilliant comeback and win the match in an 11-4 tiebreaker.

Defending champion and number one seed Robbie McCarthy of Westmeath had a straightforward 21-3, 21-2 victory over Tipperary's Ned Reilly in the round of 16 but was pushed closer in the quarter-final by former Intermediate Singles champion Shane Dunne of Kilkenny, with the Mullingar man coming through 2116, 21-15.

Elsewhere, Kilkenny's Kyle Jordan qualified for his first Senior Singles semi-final with a 21-13, 21-16 win over Tipperary's James Prentice, with Brian Carroll defeating Wexford's Keith Armstrong in straight games to complete the last-four line-up, with McCarthy facing Carroll and McConnell taking on Jordan.

Meanwhile, Kilkenny's Amy Brennan had an eye-catching win over Kildare right-hander Mollie Dagg, who was runner-up last season, to advance to the Ladies Senior Singles semi-final, where she will take on fellow Kilkenny player Aoife Holden, conqueror of Cork's Aishling O'Keeffe.

Aoife McCarthy meets the recently-crowned Senior Doubles champion and Irish Softball Nationals winner Martina McMahon of Limerick. McCarthy was in commanding form as she saw off Wexford's former minor champion Jodie Keeling.

The four semi-finals are down for decision at the National Handball Centre, Croke Park this Saturday, starting at 11am. All four matches will be streamed live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel.

RESULTS

Men's Senior Singles

Quarter Finals: Westmeath (Robbie McCarthy Jnr.) dft Kilkenny (Shane Dunne) 21-16, 21-15

Meath (Gary McConnell) dft Sligo (Cormac Finn) 16-21, 21-17, 11-4

Kilkenny (Kyle Jordan) dft Tipperary (James Prentice) 21-13, 21-16

Meath (Brian Carroll) dft Wexford (Keith Armstrong) 21-6, 21-5

Round of 16: Westmeath (Robbie McCarthy Jnr.) dft Tipperary (Ned Reilly) 21-3, 21-2

Sligo (Cormac Finn) dft Wicklow (Chris Doyle) 21-2, 21-5

Meath (Gary McConnell) dft Dublin (Carl Browne) 21-9, 21-0

Tipperary (James Prentice) dft Wexford (Gavin Buggy) 16-21, 21-18, 11-8

Kilkenny (Shane Dunne) dft Kilkenny (Brian Mahon) 21-8, 21-13

Meath (Brian Carroll) dft Tipperary (Ger Coonan) W/O