The action in the Wexford winter handball league continues to heat up with the semi final pairings now beginning to take shape in some very close divisions. The premier division saw five games played last week and all the results were important in the qualification process.
Michael Ducksy Walsh moved top of the table on 16 points after picking up yet another win this week seeing off the challenge of fellow Kilkenny man Patrick Funchion from Kells. Gavin Buggy from St Joseph’s lies joint second in the table after he won an all St Joseph’s battle with his club mate Paul Lambert on a two games to one score line. Peter Funchion from Kells lies in joint second also after he beat Keith Kavanagh from Coolboy during the past week. Jerome Willoughby and Patrick Funchion are primed to battle it out for the final semi final berth after Jerome Willoughby from Coolboy sang the perfect notes in defeating Keith Kavanagh from his own club, however he did lose out his second game of the week losing out to Peter Hughes from Ballyhogue.
In division one Daniel Fenlon remains on top of the table despite suffering his first defeat of the campaign as the Garryhill man fell to the challenge of Darren O’Toole from Coolgraney who moves into third in the division. Ciaran Neary closed the gap at the top of the table to just two points as he got over Garryhill’s John Rossiter, while in the same division Chris Doyle from Coolboy defeated his club mate Gary Donohue and they now sit joint fourth in the group.
Peter McGrath continues to lead the way in division two despite a rest week, however the chase behind him heated up with Barry McWilliams moving into second place after beating Pat Quaile from Coolboy while Tony Breen (Templeudigan) moved into third place thakns to a fine win by two games to one over Ollie Ryan from Garryhill.
Thomas Lennon finished his division three campaign with 21 points with his final win over Diarmuid Burke from Kells in his final game last week. Kevin Barrett secured second spot in the division with a win over Michael O’Neill from Templeudigan.
Robert Byrne had a week to remember in division 4 with an incredible three wins from three games to move him in the semi final contention he got past the challenges of Declan Hart (Horeswood), Sean Stanners (St Martin’s) and John Quinn from Arklow. Sean Stanners is involved in a titanic battle for the final semi final spot after he grabbed a crucial win over Martin Clancy from Tinryland in the same division while Declan Hart must hope for a remarkable run of results next week if he is to sneak back into semi final contention despite his win over John Roche from Castlebridge.
In Division 5 Paul Dowling from Mothel grabbed a crucial win in his final group game to move onto 12 points however his win over Pat Doyle from Coolboy may not be enough to grab a semi final spot as there are players in the same division who can pass him out with wins next week.
Paddy Cheevers (Horeswood) and Keith Armstrong from Davidstown moved joint top of division seven with two important wins during the past week. Cheevers was the winner when he played Oulart’s Tom Murphy, while Armstrong secured a semi final berth after being Robert Doyle from St Joseph’s.
Kevin Cowman moved top of the pile in division 8 when he moved joint top with the man he defeated Sonny Sheils from Ballyhogue. In the same division John Moran from Ballymitty kept up the chase with a fine win over Declan Jordan from Coolboy.
Kevin Rossiter from Garryhill moved into second spot in group nine after beating group rival harry Leacy from St Joseph’s, while Stephen Murphy moved into fourth spot with a close win over Jimmy Neary from Kilkenny while Mick Carthy was content with a win in the same division after he beat Tom Cummins from Horeswood.
Tommy Hardy (St Mary’s) continues to set the pace in Division ten with a fine win over Paddy Curran from St martin’s last week, while hot on his heels is Alan Armstrong from Davidstown who was the best in his clash with David Creane from Kilmyshall.
Paul Treacy leads the chase to catch Gavin Goggins (St Mary’s) at the top of division 11 after he beat Brendan Murphy from Castlebridge Eammon Bowe from Davidstown is also hot in pursuit with another fine win over Liam Rossiter from Ballyhogue while Richard Ryan also remains in contention as the Horeswood man got the better of Eoin Redmond from Kilmyshall.
Thomas Murphy moved top of the group in Division 14 as he won the only game in the group last week as the Kilmyshall man defeated title rival Colin Browne from Coolgraney.
Mary Phelan from Clogh continued to dominate in the ladies division one after she got the better of Ellen O’Connor from Leixlip, while in division two of the women’s divisions there was crucial wins for Cora Doyle (St Joseph’s), Roisin Walsh (St Joseph’s) and Sarah O’Connor from St Martin’s.
