Historic win for McCarthy
“I lost out in the past two years in the final of this and all my efforts were geared towards winning this title in 2011,” he said.
“I have trained for 12 months and have received outstanding support from the county GAA board and that has paid off with my fitness. I’ll just enjoy this for now. I just can’t believe it has all paid off.”
Dublin’s Eoin Kennedy entered the decider as an eight-time champion and was also chasing a phenomenal eight-in-a-row.
The opening game was one of the best seen in years, as the players traded aces relentlessly for 58 minutes. They were still level at 2-2 with 13 minutes played, such was the finely balanced nature of the match.
They were also level at 6-6, 9-9, 13-13, 15-15 before McCarthy broke to go 17-15 in front. He then delivered three incredible kill shots to win the set.
It seemed as though the Dublin star’s grasp on the trophy was loosening as McCarthy drove clear in the best exhibition of play in the 23-year-old’s playing career. He soon opened up a sizeable gap as he moved into a commanding 16-6 lead and there was a level of inevitability about the result at that stage.
However Kennedy, in the typical style of one of the all-time great champions, cut the deficit to 13-16. But McCarthy found five consecutive points to secure the title.
Meanwhile, Galway’s Martin Mulkerrins secured his second M Donnelly GAA Handball All-Ireland 60x30 Minor championship crown at Abbeylara on Saturday with a straight games victory over Kildare’s Niall O’Connor. The Moycullen clubman always held the edge and delivered some sensational low pass-shots at crucial stages.
At Intermediate level, there was a dramatic turnaround before Roscommon captured the All-Ireland Intermediate Doubles title
Gary McConnell, partnered by Peter Reilly, was in sensational form in the opening game as Meath won 21-4. However, Roscommon’s Aengus Cunningham and Chris Doolin showed tremendous mettle to carve out a 21-19 win in the second and they went on to claim the honours with a 21-11 win in the third.
There was further joy for the west when Pronsias Maughan won the 60x30 Finals Shootout.
