DCU Handball in Pheonix, Arizona

This year’s trip to the United States brought DCU handball club to Phoenix, Arizona. DCU was represented in both the doubles and the singles. This competition saw five of the seven competitors from DCU come from first year, a sign of a promising future for the club.

In the men’s Singles competitions DCU were represented in the Open Plate, A1, A2, C1 and C2 divisions by Kevin Diggins, Niall Joyce, Ben Devlin, Alan Hevehan and Neil Hannigan respectively. Kevin had lost his first game in the open to be dropped in the Open plate where he won against MNSU’s Matt Job. Unfortunately Kevin’s singles tournament ended here as he had to pull out of the semi-final due to an injury to his shoulder early in the first game. Niall Joyce also won his first game with relative ease against David Schiller from HU. Niall made it as far as the quarter final against eventual winner Ricardo Palma of LFC who defeated him 21-17, 21-10 in the Men’s A1. Ben Devlin won both his preliminary games, promoting him to the next grade. With a comprehensive win in his first game against SBU’s Jimmy Ji, Ben was faced with UCD’s Emmet Landy in the Men’s A1 quarter final. A very close game between the two brought them to a tie-breaker where Landy managed to take the win 21-14, 16-21, and 8-11. In the Men’s A2 Cian Ó Dálaigh started off winning in a tie-breaker against Alex Birge of MOST. Cian was then matched against UL’s Liam Bradshaw who managed to beat Cian in yet another quarter final defeat for DCU. Alan Hevehan who was representing in the Men’s C1 lost in very a close game versus MSU’s Zack Timmerman 21-17, 16-21 and 8-11. Neil Hannigan, a new-comer to the world of handball, won three successive seeding games moving him up two grades. He was faced with a tough opponent in C2 where he lost to John Conte of ASU, who went on to win the division.

Meadhbh Ni Dhálaigh was the only representative in the Women’s divisions from DCU. Starting off in the Open, she defeated Gretchen Gregory of MOST. The next game was the quarter final. Meadhbh lost against MUN’s Leslie Amminson, which ended her competition short.

DCU had more luck in the Men’s doubles with Cian Ó Dálaigh and Ben Devlin in the Men’s A shrugging off doubles pairs from ASU, UCIN and a strong pair from UL in the shape of Hurley and Bradshaw. They met BC’s doubles team Woo and Lau in the final. They won the first game with ease 21-4, then BC came close in the second game with 21-17, which wasn’t enough to overcome DCU’s Ó Dálaigh and Devlin, winning them the gold medal. DCU was represented in the Men’s Open by Niall Joyce and Kevin Diggins who got a bye in the first round, but came against a strong team with Esser and Langmack from MOST who ended DCU’s run in the Open. DCU’s final doubles team, Neil Hannigan and Alan Hevehan were unlucky to lose to Mogavero and Van Swol from UI. The pair showed great chemistry with it being their first time playing together. They put on a good show for the spectators with it ending 21-18 and 21-17 against them.

While some of the players may have been disappointed with their performances in the tournament, this was still a positive outcome for the Handball club. Given that five of the seven DCU representatives have three further years of eligibility this competition has laid down a good marker for success in years to come.

DCU Dóchas Éireann side land Junior Football title

 

It was an intense, tight affair in Belfield with DCU eventually coming out victorious. The game began with both defences on top. UCD managed to break the deadlock first with a free about 10 mins in. DCU shortly replied with a free of their own. Possession of ball was largely controlled by UCD in the early exchanges however the organisation, intensity and quality of the tackling meant they got very little reward. A few points each were exchanged before a slick counter attack set Rory Upton through on goal and he blasted the ball into the top right hand corner of the goal.

Half- time: 1-4 – 0-4

The second half began with the same ferocity as the first. UCD again opened the scoring with a free early on. The pace of the game didn’t drop for a second with both teams giving everything they had. Scores were exchanged by both sides for the majority of the half with the DCU front men being particularly clinical. With the DCU defence constantly retrieving the ball, they were able to extend their lead in the later stages. A fantastic game to watch for the neutrals. The DCU manager described the performance of his players as “one of the best overall team performances he’s seen”.