Greencastle girls continue historic year at All Ireland Feile

A group of Greencastle girls has been making a huge impression on the handball world with their trailblazing achievements in 2023.

The Greencastle Féile team swept aside the challenge of three renowned Kilkenny clubs last weekend in Sligo to capture the All Ireland softball division one girls title in stunning fashion, completing a famous Féile double this year.

Back in May, the girls historically lifted the 40×20 division one Féile title and their sensational year continued last Saturday with a brilliant 60×30 Féile success.

Between those two triumphs, Greencastle had four girls on the Ulster team which captured the interprovincial 60×30 girls team championship for the first time with victories over Leinster and Munster in Croke Park.

Alice McGlinchey, Emma Conway and Aimee Fox have starred in all three title wins and were joined in the Féile double success by Grace Teague and Mary Jo Morris.

Last year Loughmacrory became the first Tyrone club to win All Ireland division one girls Féile titles with wins in both codes and the two cups will now stay in Tyrone for another year thanks to the brilliant Greencastle girls, and there’s the promise of more Féile glory to come as the new champions have a very young team.

These girls are all excellent footballers and camogie players and have been able to transfer their skills onto the handball court to win at the highest level.

Aimee Fox recently won the girls skills title at the Tyrone hurling summer camp, while Grace Teague captained the Greencastle girls to a county camogie title earlier this year and Emma Conway was player of the match in the county final.

All of those skills were on display in Collooney last Saturday as the Tyrone representatives defeated the big Kilkenny strongholds, Kells, Clogh and Kilfane, to qualify for the All Ireland final against Kells.

Emma and Aimee were the first doubles team to take the court in the decider and they served up a thrilling 16-15 victory over the talented Shauna Hayes and her partner to give Greencastle a dream start in the All Ireland final. Emma and Aimee had excelled together for Ulster in the Interprovincial competition two weeks earlier and they carried that impressive form into Féile with another memorable performance.

Alice McGlinchey and Grace Teague then had the task of finishing the job off in the second doubles encounter with Kells and they did it in eye-catching style with a 21-7 win, Alice showing why she was selected as the division one skills award winner with her delightful two handed skills.

Grace performed superbly alongside Alice in the final, while Mary Jo had also played a big part during the day and was a key member of this winning group.

These girls have brought tremendous honour to their club and county with their historic achievements on the national stage in 2023 and have made the handball world sit up and take notice of Greencastle handball club as a serious force at juvenile level.

Meanwhile Loughmacrory boys Féile team missed out on division one glory in Collooney last Saturday as classy Kilkenny outfit Talbots Inch lifted the top prize but the Tyrone lads returned home with a notable victory in the division 2 softball Féile final.

Ciaran McCrystal, making a welcome return to competitive action following the serious arm injury he sustained during the All Ireland 40×20 championship earlier this year, led his young teammates to an impressive win over Cork side Ballydesmond to take the division two 60×30 title back to Loughmacrory for the first time.

Ciaran was joined on the team by three U13 players, Owen Kelly, Michéal McCrystal and Damhán Meenagh, who will all be eligible for Féile for two more years and will surely have a big say in the division one title race next year.

Damhán, Michéal, Owen and sub Ronan McCrystall have now ended the 60×30 season on a really positive note following their wonderful displays in Croke Park two weeks ago to lift the All Ireland boys team of six title.