Irish Tug of War

The penultimate national championship of the season took place today in St. Patrick’s GAA hall, Lordship, Co. Louth. The titles contested were senior 600kg and novice 600kg. The teams who competed were Ballyhooly, Bremore, Carndonagh, Clonmany A, Clonmany B, Cockhill, Fallons, St. Pats and Rockyes.

Bremore, national senior champions at 600kg

Six teams took part in the senior 600kg competition. Bremore were very impressive in this event and easily qualified for the semi final in first position without loosing a single end. Clonmany B were a close second. There was fierce competition for the remaining semi final positions between Clonmany A, Cockhill and St. Pats but it was Cockhill who missed out on the knockout stages. Arch rivals Bremore and St. Pats faced each other in the first semi final in the repeat of last year’s final. However, it was the Dublin team who won revenge for last year’s defeat as they qualified for the final with a straight end victory. Neighbours, Clonmany A and Clonmany B faced each other in the other semi final in a repeat of the 640kg semi from two weeks ago in Carlow.

Clonmany B, runners-up at 600kg senior

The result was the same as Clonmany B went through to the final to face Bremore, the third meeting of these two heavyweights in a national final this season. This was to be another mouth watering contest between these two great teams as Bremore fought hard to win the first end as they did in Carlow a forthnight ago. The Bremore men were not to be denied on this occasion putting the bitter defeats of the previous two finals behind them to win the second end, the gold medal and the national title at 600kg. St. Pats pulled out of the third place play-off which meant that Clonmany A won the bronze medal by default.

Rockyes, national champions at 600kg novice

Only three teams took part in the 600kg novice competition. Rockyes who won their first ever national title two weeks ago in Carlow continued their fine form today winning the round robin system. Fallons from Co. Galway who have had a very good first season at national level winning a silver and bronze medal before today joined Rockyes in the final. This was an even contest but it was the Cavan team with three changes from their winning 640kg team who pulled a very controlled final to win their second title in a row with a straight end victory. The final national championship of the season will be hosted by the Cockhill club on the 14th of February in Burnfoot, Co. Donegal.

Four teams took part in a non-championship youth competition. There were three Bremore teams and one from Ballyhooly. Pullers ranged in age from 12 to 19 and there were some excellent contests. This competition is a positive development as the new outdoor youth league gets underway in the summer. Click here for details of the outdoor youth league. If anyone has any photos from this competition could they please email them to us contactus@irishtugofwar.net

See full results on our Results page.

Click here to see photos from the championship in Lordship (note: there are two pages of photos

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The third round of the national indoor championship took place today at the Carlow Youth Centre in Carlow town. The weights contested were senior 640kg and novice 640kg. The teams who competed were Ballyhooly, Bremore, Clonmany A, Clonmany B, Cockhill, Fallons, Rockyes, Taughmaconnell and Urnaidhe.

Rockeys, national champions at novice 640kg

Five teams took part in the novice 640kg competition and there were some fine even contests with very little between the teams. Ballyhooly finished top of the round robin system with Rockyes a close second. Fallons and Taughmaconnell were the other teams who qualified for the semi finals with local team Urnaidhe just missing out. Ballyhooly from Co. Cork faced Fallons from Co. Galway in the first semi final. The Cork team who were hoping to win their second title of the season began well winning the first end. However, Fallons who finished runners-up in the 680kg in Carrick on Shannon responded well to take the contest to a third and deciding end.

Ballyhooly, runners-up in the novice 640kg

There was a great atmosphere as both teams battled hard for a place in the final. With both teams on two cautions each, Fallons were disqualified for receiving their third caution as Ballyhooly progressed to the final. Rockyes from Co. Cavan who had previously won silver and bronze medals in this year’s championships had a much more comfortable victory over Taughmaconnell from Co. Roscomman. The final between Rockyes and Ballyhooly was an even affair but the Cavan men had a slight edge in the first end pulling the rope across the line in a little over two minutes. Under the guidance of coach, Andrew Clarke the Rockyes team pulled an impressive second end to win the gold medals and their first ever national title. Well done to the lads from Kingscourt, Co. Cavan. Fallons recovered well from their semi final dissapointment to win the bronze medals with an impressive victory over Taughmaconnell.

Clonmany B, national senior champions at 640kg

The four teams who took part in the senior 640kg championship were Bremore, Clonmnay A, Clonmany B and Cockhill. Bremore pulled well to top the round robin system with Clonmany B finishing in second position. Bremore faced Cockhill from Co. Donegal in the first semi fianl. There was little between the teams but the Dublin team continued their fine form to qualify for the final with a straight end victory. Arch rivals, Clonmany A and Clonmany A both from Inishowen in Co. Donegal faced each other in the second semi final. This was a mouth watering contest as Clonmany A began well bringing the rope to within a few inches of the line but the reigning world champions were not done yet and the recovered well to win the first end. Clonmany B also went on to win the second end to set up a repeat of the 680kg final at Carrick on Shannon. The final turned out to be a hugely entertaining contest and will go down as one of the greatest finals in history as the two heavyweights slugged it out for the title. Bremore who were the reigning champions at 640kg continued their fine form to win the first end with some well controlled pulling. The second end was a real battle as Clonmany B bagan to win some rope but Bremore responded bringing it back to the centre mark. Clonmany B recovered and eventually brough the contest into a third and deciding end in a time of four and a half minutes. The deciding end was similar to the second but it was the determined Donegal men who just did enough to pull the rope across the line to win the gold medals and the national senior title at 640kg. Clonmany A defeated neighbours Cockhill to win the bronze medals.

For full results from today’s national championship in Carlow check out our Results page.

Click here to see photos from today’s national championship in Carlow.

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