Brennan claims Golden Masters All-Ireland Wallball Title for Laois

Laois celebrating All-Ireland success at Wallball Championship Finals

Clough-Ballacolla had the honour of hosting this year’s All-Ireland Wallball Championship Finals with the best handballers from around the country all converging on the Laois venue for what proved an exciting weekend of wallball competition. Laois were well represented at these All-Ireland Championship Finals having claimed three Leinster Wallball titles at the beginning of August with Orla Brophy (Cullohill) claiming the Ladies Junior B title, her sister Aoife Brophy (Cullohill) claiming the Ladies Junior title and Kevin Brennan (Clough-Ballacolla) winning the Men’s Golden Masters title.  

In the Golden Masters, home court favourite Kevin Brennan faced Galway’s Graham Casburn (Galway) in his All-Ireland semi-final encounter. Brennan played with immense composure and skill to record a 15-06, 15-08 and progress to the All-Ireland Final. In the final, Kevin faced Niall Kerr of Tyrone. The Tyrone wallballer had impressively defeated John Penny (Limerick) in his own semi-final to reach the final. The opening game was a close encounter with Kevin edging it 15-11. Kevin was at his brilliant best in the second game and recorded a magnificent 15, 15-0 victory. 

This success adds another All-Ireland title to the Clough-Ballacolla’ handballers collection. Over the past number of years, Brennan has worked incredibly hard to develop his game and this remarkable and special victory on his homecourt is a deserved reward for all of his endeavours.  

In the Ladies Junior B, Orla Brophy faced Siobhan Pentrice of Tipperary. This was expected to be a keenly fought final between two evenly matched players. The final followed the expected form lines with little to separate both wallball players. The opening game went the way of the Tipperary players 15-10. The second game was an even closer affair with the Tipperary player once again just edging proceedings 15-13. Despite the loss, the younger Brophy sister will be delighted to have reached an All-Ireland Final in her first year playing in the adult grades, having stepped up from minor last year. No doubt the experience gained at these championships will stand to her in good stead for the future. 

The Ladies Junior Final saw Orla’s sister Aoife Brophy in action after claiming a dramatic semi-final tie-breaker victory over Alanna Coggeran of Roscommon 07-15, 15-05, 11-03. Having lost the opening game after a slow start, the Laois handballer finally found her form to impressively win the next two games and progress to the final. In the final she faced a familiar opponent in Tyrone’s Clare Conway. On this occasion it was the Tyrone player who got the upper hand after a very exciting and high-quality final which ended on a scoreline of 15-13, 15-05. While it was not her day, Aoife Brophy showed that she possesses the talent necessary to compete and win an All-Ireland at this grade in the very near future. 

Also, recognition must be given to the Clough-Ballacolla Handball Club who did a fantastic job in hosting these finals. Travelling players, officials, supporters along with the President of GAA Handball, Kevin Cooke all complimented the club on the level of hospitality provided and the excellence of the courts and facilities used to stage one of the blue-ribboned events on the GAA handball calendar.