The first major local handball tournament of the season, the Kill Shot Gloves Kingscourt Shoot-Out, took place over two days last weekend.
In all, there were 64 players entered from 21 counties, with a large local representation.
The tournament is run on a unique format. It is broken into two separate competitions, with intermediate and senior players mainly in Shoot-Out 1 (Saturday) and Junior and Junior B players in the mix for Shoot-Out 2 on Sunday.
All 32 players assemble on the morning of the event, with the top 16 seeded and the unseeded 16 selecting their first-round opponents in a blind draw before the action starts at 10am, with matches played on a 20-minute timed basis.
Star man on day one was Kells, Co Meath clubman Gary McConnell, who played some brilliant handball to take top honours.
McConnell defeated Gary Donohue from Wicklow, youngster Cian Dunning from Cork, Kingscourt’s Joe Dillon and Tyrone man Ryan Mullan, who had a good tournament on his return from injury, to make the final, where he came through a thrilling clash against Wexford’s Gavin Buggy on a wafer-thin margin, eventually running out a 15-13 winner.
“I’d like to thank the club for running the event, it’s one of the best tournaments of the season and a great way to start the new year,” stated McConnell, an All-Ireland Senior Doubles champion in both 4-wall and softball, in his acceptance speech.
Special mention goes to Buggy who defeated John Hayes, Oran Kiernan, Michael Gregan and Brendan Fleming in a fine day's work.
The host club's big hope Dillon showed great form early on to beat Chris Gavaghan from Mayo and rising star Cormac Finn of Sligo – the former All-Ireland Minor champion – but found McConnell too sharp in the quarter-final.
Number one seed was another Corkman in 2024 winner Fleming but he fell in the semi-final against Buggy in a thrilling match which went to extra time and was decided by a single point.
The best handball gloves in the game, as worn by world champions Paul Brady and Ciana Ní Churraoin, are available HERE.
Another local player, Oran Kiernan of Carrickmacross, came up just short against Buggy, having earlier seen off Corduff footballer Ciaran Brennan. Kiernan recently won the Monaghan Senior Singles for the first time, beating two national senior players in Eoghan McGinnity and Gavin Coyle.
Bawn clubman Coyle defeated Conor Maxwell from Dublin before falling to Newport, Co Mayo player Ian McLoughlin, who was in great form, in a close round of 16 clash.
Another player who impressed was Clare's Sean Coughlan, who overcame Tyrone's Caolán Daly in an excellent match played to a high standard; the young citeog came up short however against the canny Fleming but showed enough to suggest he will take a lot of beating at junior level this year.
One of the stories of the tournament was the performance of Roscommon’s Fiona Tully, one of the leading ladies players who ran Galway’s Peter Donohue close in the first round before taking the scalps of Brennan and Mayo’s Vinny Moran, the latter by a single point, before she fell to Corduff left-hander James Gavaghan.
The skilful Gavaghan took first place in the B section (for the 16 players beaten in the first round) as he saw off Armagh’s wallball specialist Conor McLean in the final.
Moughan takes gold in all-Moycullen final
On Sunday, all roads led to Kingscourt again as despite the poor weather in some parts of the country, 30 players lined up to take their chance, with a large local entry again on day two.
Gold in the Cup on day two went to 22-year-old Moycullen, Co Galway player Sean Moughan, who was impressive in taking down his clubmate Jack McNeela. Both of these young Galway men played very well over the course of the day, with McNeela deadly off the back wall and killing consistently and Moughan showing deft footwork and astute shot selection.
In the first round, Michael Smith defeated Ben McGeough of Bawn, with Kingscourt’s Diego Di Folco and Conor Owens also picking up wins, as did Bawn man Conor Ruxton, a stalwart of the collegiate scene.
Out of luck was Sean Og Gargan from the host club as he ran into a hot-shooting David Considine from Clare, who put on an exhibition of front-court play, killing well on the fly in particular.
In the round of 16, Smith was beaten by McNeela, Di Folco and Owens defeated Conor Keenan (Tyrone) and Belfast man Conor McAuley, the World Wallball C Singles finalist, respectively while in one of the best games of the weekend, Kells clubman Troy Flanagan edged past talented underage All-Ireland champion Sean Considine of Clare, brother of David, by a point and Ruxton saw off talented young Wexford player Conor Horan also by a point.
The latter two matches were superb advertisements for the timed format, with all four men emptying the tank and ensuring nailbiting finales for the packed galleries.
Owens edged past Di Folco but was forced to pull out injured before the semi-final, with the ambidextrous Flanagan beating Down lefty Jack Turley and Ruxton losing to Moughan.
One of the ties of the weekend was between Monaghan men George McKitterick and Darragh Roe, with George earning local bragging rights with a 14-13 win after extra time.
Moughan went on to win the final, with Kevin O’Callaghan from Clare defeating Callum Lennon from Saval, Co Down in the B decider.
The tournament was sponsored by Kill Shot Handball Gloves, with each player receiving a special tournament jersey.
Check out the Kill Shot Facebook, Instagram and TikTok channels for more photos and videos in the coming days.
Special thanks to GAA Handball President Conor McDonnell for attending and presenting the trophies.
Photography: Stephen Marken
Check out our selection of jerseys by clicking on the ad below:
Full results:
SHOOT-OUT 1
Round of 32 results
Brendan Fleming dft James Gavaghan 27-8
Anthony Fitzgerald dft Andrew Brennan 22-10
Sean Coughlan dft Wayne Kinsella 23-12
Caolán Daly dft Eddie Halligan 31-7
Gavin Buggy dft John Hayes 28-10
Oran Kiernan dft Ciaran Brennan 27-6
Peter Donohue dft Fiona Tully 15-12
Michael Gregan dft Vinny Moran 22-17
Gary McConnell dft Gary Donohue 27-5
Cian Dunning dft Diego Di Folco 21-9
Cormac Finn dft Conor McLean 30-11
Joe Dillon dft Chris Gavaghan 25-5
Jerome Willoughby dft Aaron Geoghegan 21-8
Ryan Mullan dft Pat Conway 23-6
Ian McLoughlin dft Paul Fitzpatrick 26-7
Gavin Coyle dft Conor Maxwell 25-10
Round of 16
B Fleming dft A Fitzgerald 12-8
S Coughlan dft C Daly 21-12
Buggy dft O Kiernan 15-11
M Gregan dft P Donohue 21-12
G McConnell dft C Dunning 22-8
J Dillon dft C Finn 22-12
R Mullan dft J Willoughby 19-11
I McLoughlin dft Coyle 15-13
Quarter-finals
Fleming dft Coughlan 22-6
Buggy dft Gregan 17-14
McConnell dft Dillon 21-6
Mullan dft McLoughlin 19-11
Semi-finals
Buggy dft Fleming 16-15 AET
McConnell dft Mullan 31-2
Final
McConnell dft Buggy 15-13
Dropdown round of 16
J Gavaghan dft A Brennan 19-15
Kinsella dft Halligan 31-13
C Brennan dft J Hayes 29-13
F Tully dft V Moran 15-14
G Donohue dft Di Folco 31-6
C McLean dft C Gavaghan 31-9
P Conway dft A Geoghegan 18-14
C Maxwell dft P Fitzpatrick 21-14
Dropdown quarter-finals
J Gavaghan dft Kinsella 22-8
Tully dft Brennan 20-10
McLean dft G Donohue 18-15
Maxwell dft Conway 13-11
Dropdown semi-finals
J Gavaghan dft Tully 16-12
McLean dft Maxwell 21-12
Final
James Gavaghan dft Conor McLean
SHOOT-OUT 2
Round of 32
Jack McNeela dft M McDermott 31-4
Michael Smith dft Ben McGeough 23-11
James Dempsey dft Ciaran Gallogly 23-9
David Considine dft Sean Og Gargan 26-9
Diego Di Folco dft Callum Lennon 23-15
Conor McAuley dft S Marken 21-4
Jack Turley dft D Roe 30-13
Aaron McElhone dft Bosco Hurley 25-22
Sean Considine dft G McKitterick 31-3
Troy Flanagan dft Mark Kennedy 21-6
Conor Horan dft Steven O'Neill 29-12
Conor Ruxton dft John McDermott 30-11
Syzmon Polewski dft Ryan Andrews 31-5
Sean Maughan dft Kevin O'Callaghan 20-18
Round of 16
McNeela dft M Smith 30-7
J Dempsey dft D Considine 18-8
Di Folco dft C Keenan 25-5
Conor Owens dft C McAuley 31-6
J Turley dft McElhone 24-12
T Flanagan dft S Considine 18-17
Conor Ruxton dft C Horan 20-19
S Maughan dft Polewski 17-13
Quarter-finals
McNeela dft Dempsey 17-9
Owens dft Di Folco 20-14
Flanagan dft Turley 25-12
Maughan dft Ruxton 31-8
Semi-finals
Moughan dft Flanagan
McNeela dft Di Folco (in for Owens, inj.)
Final
Moughan dft McNeela
Third place: Flanagan dft Di Folco
Dropdown round of 16
McGeough dft M McDermott 28-13
Gallogly dft Gargan 21-17
Lennon dft Keenan 20-14
Marken a bye
Roe dft Hurley 29-9
McKitterick dft Kennedy 21-2
O'Neill dft J McDermott 28-14
O'Callaghan dft Andrews 19-7
Dropdown quarter-finals
Gallogly dft McGeogh 31-11
Lennon dft Marken 31-6
McKitterick dft Roe 14-13 AET
O'Callaghan dft O'Neill 29-15
Dropdown semi-finals
Lennon dft Gallogly
O'Callaghan dft McKitterick
Final
O'Callaghan dft Lennon
Third place: Gallogly
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