Handball made a very welcome return to Roscommon when Mount Talbot hosted the Onewall County championships on Sunday 27 June.
Not having seen competitive handball of any sort in almost one year a large crowd of competitors and enthusiasts turned up to the outdoor venue and were rewarded with beautiful weather and some very entertaining matches.
Like a number of other competitors the lockdown encouraged Dylan Hanley and Cathal O'Connor to return playing after some time out of the game. They contested the Mens Open final with Hanley winning 15-8, 15-3.
The Mens 'A' final saw another returnee Fionn Cusack beat Liam O'Ceallaigh 15-5, 15-11. O'Ceallaigh had won a cracking semi-final against yet another returnee Halid Yakhyaev 13-15. 15-9, 11-10.
The younger of the Coggeran brothers David won the Mens 'B' division beating Cathal Treacy 15-4, 15-5 having beaten Sean Rafferty 15-9, 15-11 in the semi-final.
The Mens 'C' event attracted a large entry, with Kilglass's Thomas Mahady emerging victorious beating John Galvin in the final 15-7, 15-4.
The elder Coggeran, John won the Masters event beating Fergal Timmons 15-12, 15-3.
There was only one underage match played and that saw Carragh Kennedy beat Allannah Coggeran 15-2, 15-2 in the Girls U17 grade.
Like so many other activities in Ireland, this return is by no means a guarantee of continued handball competitions, even though it is hoped that 60x30 handball will be returning in the coming weeks. However, all is dependent on further Government announcements.
