60x30 Juvenile All-Ireland Semi-finals
St. Coman's last weekend it hosted the 60x30 Juvenile All-Ireland semi-finals between Connacht and Munster.
Star of the show from a Roscommon point of view was local youngster Eoghan Carthy. Carthy won his way through to the U16 All-Ireland final with a solid win over Cork's Tomas O'Connor.
After racing into a 15-6 lead, he appeared to hit a concentration blip and let the willing O'Connor drag himself right back into the game. O'Connor coming within two points before Eoghan regrouped and pulled away to win 21-15.
The second was a much more clear cut affair. Carthy playing a much smarter brand of handball, keeping the small alley specialist at the back of the court for long periods before pouncing on any weak returns with clinical kills.
Unlike the first, Carthy never let up in this game and ran out a comfortable winner 21-6. Unfortunately the final may clash with the county minor football final which features Roscommon Gaels. Carthy is a star player on this team, so in the long-standing handball tradition, he may have to concede home venue to his Kilkenny opponent in return for a re-fixture.
Carthy's two regular training partners, Gavin Kelly from Galway and Leitrim's Benoit McKiernan had mixed results.
Kelly looked very impressive in easily winning his U15 match against Tipperary's Eoin Burke. While McKiernan narrowly lost in a very good game to Tipp's Evan Carey in the U17 grade.
Kilglass's Allana Coggeran received a walkover and will now play a Tyrone opponent in the final.
60x30 Junior 'C' Doubles Connacht Final
Allana's father John and Brother Adam teamed up to win the 60x30 junior 'C' doubles Connacht final, also held in St. Coman's.
They beat Sligo's Simon Kavanagh and Roscommon native David Hannon in two straight games. John was the best player in the court and controlled most of the action from the middle and back of the court.
Adam played his part in the front court. The Sligo pair tried hard but the result was never in doubt, Roscommon winning 21-3, 21-10.
