Handball – All-Ireland Doubles Finals – Live Streaming

A hugely exciting season finale to the O’Neill’s All-Ireland Championships takes place on Saturday in St Coman’s, Roscommon with the Men’s & Ladies Senior Doubles Finals down for decision.

Click to view live streaming of these games from 2:30pm on Saturday April 5th

Top billing is the eagerly anticipated Men’s final between reigning champions Paul Brady & Michael Finnegan of Cavan, and Meath’s Brian Carroll & Tom Sheridan. Both pairings have shown their class en route to the final, not dropping a game along the way. Brady & Finnegan enter as favourites, and rightly so as they have dominated the 40×20 doubles scene in recent years. They have appeared in the last twelve consecutive finals, winning nine, and now aiming for an incredible 10th title. Brady may have missed the Senior Singles championship, but he has showed in the last two US Pro-Stops that he is still the top dog in world Handball. And he will know that by his side on Saturday he will have one of the best right-sided doubles players of all time. Finnegan has the know how to win big games, and as well as the All-Ireland titles, he has appeared in the last four World Doubles Finals, winning three, two with Brady & one with Dublin’s Eoin Kennedy.

Their opponents from the Kells club however are no slouches themselves. The reigning, and four time, 60×30 champions are proven quality in the 40×20 court as well, and pushed Brady & Finnegan to a 21-20 tiebreaker in an epic 2012 40×20 final. An astonishing fact does exist involving Sheridan that many people are perhaps unaware of, or have forgotten, because it is not just the Cavan duo that are bidding for a 10th title. Ironically, Sheridan’s last title came against Brady & Finnegan in the 2002 decider, and on Saturday he will be aiming for number ten with a fourth different partner in Brian Carroll. Carroll is a dream man to cover the frontcourt; his retrieval skills are often beyond belief, as witnessed during an enthralling Singles SF with Diarmuid Nash last month. This combined with Sheridan’s craft, and the fact that Sheridan is a lefty, gives them an excellent chance to upset the reigning champs. It all leads to another classic.

Preceding the Men’s final is another fantastic showdown as Kerry’s Maria Daly & Ashley Prendiville look to retain their 2013 title they won against Cork’s Catriona Casey & Aishling O’Keefe. This year, they have the same opponents who will be aiming to go one better than last years tiebreaker defeat to win their maiden title. They do have an up hill battle against the experienced three time champions, but the Cork duo have developed into an excellent pairing in recent years and know that they have the game to win. Having lost out in the Singles final a few weeks ago, Casey will be keen to end the season on a high and add the Senior title to the Intermediate title the duo won in 2012. The experienced Kerry girls will be up for this though and won’t relinquish their title without a battle.

First game on the bill is the Minor Doubles at 2.30pm. Like the singles final, it is Tyrone v Clare as Johnny Woods aims for the double. Woods teams up with Ryan Mullan, and having won last years U16 Doubles title, will know each other’s game well. Fergal Coughlan will be out for some revenge against Woods after the singles final, and alongside Jacob Loughnane, the Clare men will be very difficult to beat.

GAA Handball O’Neills All Ireland 40×20 Championships Doubles Finals
5th April in St Comans Roscommon @ 2.30pm

Minor Doubles Final:
Tyrone (Johnny Woods/Ryan Mullan) v Clare (Fergal Coughlan/Jacob Loughnane)

Ladies Senior Doubles Final:
Kerry (Maria Daly/Ashley Prendiville v Cork (Catriona Casey/Aishling O’Keefe)

Mens Senior Doubles Final:
Cavan (Paul Brady/Michael Finnegan) v Meath (Tom Sheridan/Brian Carroll)

Click to view live streaming of these games