Mayo side Ballaghaderreen collected their sixth consecutive GAA Handball All-Ireland Senior Club title on Saturday when they overcame Cork side Ballydesmond on an overall scoreline of 98-61.
The men from the West had earlier overcame Kilkenny kingpins Kells in the first semi-final of the day, while the Rebels disposed of Tyrone side Carrickmore in a gripping encounter where they had just six aces to spare.
In the final showdown, Ballaghaderreen’s Dessie Keegan took to the court against former All-Ireland senior singles champion Tony Healy and there was little separating the pair in the opening stages as they exchanged aces to up 14-14.
Healy looked like taking the first game, but Keegan pulled off a series of top-drawer finishes to win 21-19.
In the second game, Keegan pushed into top gear and finished out to the second game to take a 21-16 victory.
The doubles meeting saw Ballydesmond’s Niall Fleming and John O’Keeffe in action against Vinnie Moran and Stephen Cooney.
Moran and Cooney dominated the first game but O’Keeffe and Fleming pushed for every ace in the second and going into the last game Ballaghaderreen needed 12 aces to secure another historic victory for the famed club.
Despite the best efforts of Cork’s Brendan Fleming, Ballaghaderreen’s Joe McCann managed to hit the magic number before Fleming could secure the game at 12-20.
‘We’re delighted with the victory and particularly over such a quality side as Ballydesmond,’ said Keegan.
‘The Club Championship means a lot to all of us and hopefully we’ll be back to go for seven next year.’
Meanwhile, in the Junior B Club Championship Final Kells (Meath) defeated St. Mellan's (Monaghan) 96-38 in a one-sided affair at Bawn.
