Spring Newsletter Crossakiel Handball Club

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Wexford stand in the way of historic win for Crossakiel's Eugene O'Reilly

Eugene O'Reilly & Peter Flanagan face tough battle in Leinster Final


Leinster 40 x 20 championships finals : Thursday March 11th in Ballymore Eustace (Co. Kildare) at 8 p.m.

Junior B doubles: Eugene O’Reilly & Peter Flanagan (Meath) v Paul Lambert & Peter Hughes (Wexford)

Flanagan & O’Reilly to take Leinster title

Meath’s Junior B doubles pairing of Eugene O’Reilly & Peter Flanagan go in search of their 1st Leinster doubles title when they take on hot favourites Paul Lambert & Peter Hughes from Wexford. Wexford’s danger man is Paul Lambert. The slaneysider played with Wexford’s senior player Gavin Buggy as they beat the All-Ireland senior champions of 2005 in Dublin’s Eoin Kenndy & Egin Jensen in the Leinster senior grade 3 weeks ago.

Meath tasted defeat in last years final and will be all the more determined to put matters right this time. Meath have played impressively in the qualifying games to the final. Their toughest game to date has been the quarter final against Paul Clifford & Sean Quigley from Kilkenny. Flanagan & O’Reilly quickly found themselves 18-9 behind in game 1 but staged a remarkable recovery to stun the Kilkenny men and stormed to an 21-18 win in game 1. In the second was equally exciting before Meath took the initiative and came away with a close win in game 2 by 21-17. Preparations have gone well since the semi-final and O’ Reilly is anticipating a great final “Myself and Peter are looking forward to the final and we will give it our best shot.”

Flanagan & O’Reilly have great understanding in the handball court and their great team spirit has carried them through some testing encounters. They will have to produce something like their best form if they are to become champions. Flanagan & O’Reilly will relish the opportunity of taking down the favourites and the big guns. Crossakiel club man O’Reilly is attempting to create a little bit of club history by becoming the 1st player from the club to win an adult Leinster handball title. A large group of supporters from Kells & Crossakiel is expected to travel to the Kildare venue in what should be an amazing tussle between 2 very committed sides. Meath will be hoping for a good start and if they can maintain that throughout and also keep danger man Lambert quiet have an excellent chance of victory.

Path to the Leinster handball 40 X 20 doubles final

Round 1 Eugene O'Reilly &Peter Flanagan (Meath) dft Mick Donovan & Ronan Greene (Wexford) 21-8, 21-10.

Round 2: Eugene O’Reilly & Peter Flanagan (Meath) dft Daniel Reilly & Ken Ginty (Dublin) 21-11, 21-11

Quarter-final : Eugene O'Reilly & Peter Flanagan (Meath) dft Paul Clifford & Sean Quigley (Kilkenny) 21-18, 21-17.

Semi-final Eugene O’Reilly & Peter Flanagan (Meath) dft Brendan & Diarmuid Burke (Kilkenny) 21-14, 21-10

Meath's Junior B doubles reach Leinster Final

Leinster semi-final report


Flanagan & O'Reilly return to Leinster final stage

The Crossakiel/Kells partnership of Eugene O’Reilly and Peter Flanagan have reached the Leinster final for the second year in a row after a commanding win over brothers Brendan and Diarmuid Burke from the Kells club in Kilkenny.

The first game started off at frantic pace, with both teams determined to get the early points on the board. When things settled down the Meath men began to take control and picked off their scores to build up an early lead, going 8-4 up. The Kilkenny partnership rallied and reeled off aces at will to go 12-8 up, showing that their first appearance at this stage of the Leinster championships was fully merited.

Flanagan called a strategic timeout at this point and on the resumption Meath upped a gear and regained control of the match, with some good kill shots from both O’Reilly and Flanagan to surge ahead once more. Meath were now leading 18-12. Kilkenny only managed 2 more points, before Meath closed out the first game 21-14.

It was Kilkenny who were first out of the blocks as they opened up Meath to lead 6-0 early in the second. game. Again, Meath called for a timeout to break the run and this ploy again worked well with Meath regaining serve on the re start. Flanagan’s serving was paying dividends, helping to tie up the scores 6-6. O’Reilly switched his serve at this point and almost immediately Kilkenny struggled. This allowed both Flanagan and O’Reilly to pick off some excellent rally winning kills with comfort. Meath took a firm grip on proceedings and eventually ran out worthy winners by 21-10.

Eugene & Peter reach semi-finals

O'Reilly & Flanagan reach semi-finals

Hard fought win for Meath

Leinster 40x20 Championship
Junior B Doubles Quarter-Finals
Wednesday 10th February, Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare

Peter Flanagan/Eugene O'Reilly (Meath) dft Paul Clifford/Sean Quigley (Kilkenny) 21-18, 21-17.

The Meath pair were back at the Kildare venue on Wednesday last to face Paul Clifford and Sean Quigley from the St. Cannice’s Club in Kilkenny city. The Meath pair got of to a disastrous start as Kilkenny raced into a big 18-9 lead. Despite this set back the Meath pair dug deep and worked hard for each other and began to eat into the Cats big lead. Flanagan's excellent serving helped to pin back the Kilkenny onslaught and Reilly was on hand in with a number of great picks to keep the royals in contention. Meath amazingly against all the odds roared back into the game when the game seemed lost only minutes earlier. Flanagan's & O'Reilly excellent teamwork was the real difference between 2 very good sides giving it everything for the win. Meath were grateful to take game 1 by 21-18.

The Meath duo kept the pressure on Kilkenny in game 2 and they in turn raced into an 17-7 lead and looked well on course for outright victory. Kilkenny were not yet finished and they staged quite a remarkable recovery levelling at 17-17. It was game on again. Flanagan & O'Reilly re grouped and with 1 last major effort they broke the heart out of Kilkenny's brave comeback. The Crossakiel/Kells combination managed to get over the finishing line on a score line of 21-17. The Royals now march into the sem-finals.There is still work to be done but the duo will have been pleased with their latest performance especially after a very shaky opening and they way they fought back magnificently. Their supporters will now look forward to the semi's with a good deal of confidence.