Fox & Raftery race to Castleconnor doubles victory
Collooney’s Patrick Fox & Drumshanbo’s Martin Raftery made up a winning combination as the duo went all the way to secure the 2012 Gerard Jones Memorial Perpetual handball doubles tournament on Sunday 30th January in Castleconnor last writes Michael McGee
The event is held in the honour of Gerard Jones who was tragically killed in a farming accident in 1990. The late Gerard Jones was a promising player before tragedy struck. In 1994 the Gerard Jones Memorial tournament was first played for and has been running every year since. This year’s tournament had 12 doubles teams with players from Leitrim, Mayo & Sligo taking part. The standards in the tournament continue to rise in each passing year. This year a mix a great blend of youth and experience with the likes of young guns like Leo Logan, Patrick Fox, Colin Conlon, Stanley Harte and the experienced players like Joe Neary, Paddy Walsh, Martin Golden & Larry Jones all putting in top performances. The day’s action started at 12 noon and ran all the way through to 10.30 that evening. All the contests were keenly contested. The plate semi-final seen Paddy Walsh & Jason Earlis up against Leo Logan & Micheal Jones proved very exciting . Logan & Earlis built up a big lead and were coasting to victory. However the legendary Paddy Walsh at 71 years of age and sixteen year old Jason Earlis bravely battled back into the contest. It proved to be the match of the day. Walsh & Earlis brought the fight to their opponents and with the crowd willing them on to cause an upset. This they nearly did and came very close when only 26-23 behind. However their brilliant come back fell short as Logan & Jones managed to kill the game off gaining the next 5 points for overall victory insuring their passage into the Gerard Jones Cup final. The other semi-final was more clear cut with Martin Raftery & Patrick Fox inflicting a heavy 31-6 defeat of Martin Golden & John Gilmartin.
Murphy magnificent
In the plate final Castleconnor’s Mark Murphy partnered Colin Conlon from the nearby Bofield club as they faced Tom Foddy & Joe Gorman both from the host club. The early exchanges were even with Murphy/Conlon opening up an early 5-1 lead only to see Gorman/Foody hitting back almost immediately as they played their best spell in the match going 10-5 up. Murphy a colossus in court and with his powerful left hand and fast feet managed to draw level at 10 and again at 11. Murphy & Gorman were having a great battle on the left side of court but invariably Murphy won out with his left hand pummelling winners into both corners. Conlon on right rowed in with many winners as well. Murphy was lording it in the centre and dispite Foody & Gorman’s best efforts it was to be in vain as Murphy & Conlon ended the contest with a flurry of points to win quite comfortably in the end by 31-12.
Raftery’s dazzling display in Gerard Jones Cup final
In the Gerard Jones Memorial Cup final Martin Raftery & Patrick Fox looked to be the more settled side as they faced Leo Logan & Micheal Jones. Raftery playing on the left was simply awesome and gave a wonderful exhibition from start to finish. Raftery from the Drumshanbo club opened up a big 8-0 lead. Collooney club player Patrick Fox at just 16 played his part and was a very reliable right sided player. He was clearly enjoying playing alongside Raftery. Raftery kept up the momentum while Logan/Jones began to target Fox’s right side but the young Collooney club man returned all that was thrown at him. Logan did well on the left and with improvement will also be an accomplished player in Letrim handball shortly. Raftery was simply unstoppable and was full of running after a day’s handball. After Raftery & Fox rattled into an 25-8 lead Jones gave a quick disconsolate glance at Logan the writing was on the wall for the pair who tried everything to thwart Raftery & Fox racing to victory. The outcome was never in doubt as Raftery & Fox racked up the scores. With the finishing line in sight Fox had the honour of finishing the contest with his well directed shot into the left corner bringing an end to a memorable final. It proved a great weekend for Raftery and Leitrim team mate Jamie Murray were awarded the Leitrim G.A.A.” team of the year” winners following their historic first Men’s All-Ireland Junior B doubles All-Ireland 60 x 30 success last year. After the final Larry Jones from the Castleconnor club thanked all the players for taking part, committee members & Ladies Committee who provided refreshments throughout the day. Seamus Jones presented the 2012 Gerard Jones Memorial Perpetual Cup to the winners Patrick Fox & Martin Raftery bringing the curtain down on another successful Castleconnor handball doubles tournament.
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