Ó Casáide wins U13 CnmB handball title

'Move over McCarthy' were the words of a confident young Jack Ó Casáide following his U13 Boys Cuman Na mBunscol County Final win. It was a clash between St Colmcille’s, Gainstown and Gaelscoil an Mhuillinn to see who would be crowned the U13 Boys County Champion and go on to represent the county in the Provincial Cuman na mBunscol next week.

Jack took the lead early on in game one while his opponent Darragh Hannon took a few moments to settle in to the action. While there were some fantastic rallies in game one, Jack took it on a score line of 11-3.

A now fully warmed up Hannon kicked off serve in game two steering for a win. Darragh took an early lead, with Jack coming back to reach seven all. It was neck and neck the whole way through. There were some great around the wall serves and some mighty back wall gets on display for the packed out gallery.

Darragh served a powerful serve directly to his opponent at ten all to take game two 11-10. Aggregate scoring favoured Jack on this occasion with an end result of 21-14.

Jack will now go on to represent Westmeath at the Cuman Na mBunscol in Carlow on Friday February 3. Also selected to represent Westmeath at the provincial event are a team of players from both St Colmcille’s NS, Gainstown and Gaeilscoil an Mhuilinn.

Team as follows: Jack Ó Casáide (Boys Senior Singles), Conor Matthews and Enrico Patrizi (Boys Senior Doubles), Darragh Hannon (Substitute for Boys Singles and Doubles), Katie Burke (Girls Senior Singles), Chloe Ní Casáide (Girls Junior Singles) and Emma Finneran and Sophie Farrell (Girls Senior Doubles).

It has certainly been many years since Westmeath had any representation at the Cuman Na mBunscol Handball event. We thank the schools and teachers for their support in developing the players.

We are extremely proud of the dedication the players have displayed over the training period. Congratulations to all the team members and best wishes in Carlow.