The national outdoor championships reached their conclusion today at the Tullow rugby grounds, Co. Carlow. The clubs who attended were Ballinagh, Ballinastoe, Boyneside, Boley, Burren, Brideswell, Canavans, Clonmines, Donoughmore, Farrenreigh, Four Lakes, Gortletteragh, Killoughey, Lakehill, Stapeltons, & Rockies. 9 teams competed in the senior 580kg competition.
Boley, national senior champions at 580kg
Boley were very strong as they topped the round robin closely followed by Gortletteragh in second place. Boley defeated Glenhill in the semi final and they were joined in the final by Gortletteragh who defeated Donoughmore in the other semi. This set-up a repeat of the 600kg final from Dundalk on the 24th of June. There was very little between the teams in the first end but it was Boley who eventually won it in a time of just under 7 mins. Gortletteragh dropped in hard for the second end and pushed with pressure winning over a meter of rope. Boley managed to weather the storm and eventually moved the rope back to take the gold medal, their second national title of the season.
Burren, national Div 2 champions at 580kg
Donoughmore defeated Glenhill in a great battle to win the bronze medal. The teams who qualified for the Div 2 final were the Burren and Rockies. The Burren who specialise at the lighter weights won the novice title in 2011 and were making their debut in Div 2. The men from Co. Clare did not disappoint as they went on to defeat the experienced Rockies team in straight ends to win the gold medal.
Stapeltons, national champions, 560kg novice
5 teams competed in the novice 560kg championship. The teams to progress to the semi finals were Ballinagh, Boyneside, Farrenreigh and Stapeltons. The newly affiliated Farrenreigh club from Co. Tipperary produced a wonderful display to defeat the experienced Ballinagh team to qualify for their first ever national final. Stapletons had to dig deep to overcome Boyneside in the other semi final. The final was a very exciting contest as the fearless young team from Farrenreigh fought hard to win the first end. They fought hard in the second end but the experienced Stapeltons team never lost their shape and Farrenreigh were eventually disqualified for receiving their 3rd caution. Stapeltons, who were pulling with 7 men fought hard in the deciding end and went on to win gold medal, their second national outdoor title of the season.
Boyneside, ladies 520kg national champions
Boyneside defeated Ballinagh to win the bronze medal. Ballinastoe and Boyneside were the only teams to contest the ladies 520kg competition so it was run on the best of 5 ends basis. There was very little between these arch rivals as Ballinastoe won the first end. However, Boyneside dug very deep and they ran out winners by taking the next three ends to wrap-up an excellent season for them winning all the ladies events in 2012. 6 teams took part in a very competitive mixed 4×4 600kg championship, an event which also takes place at the forthcoming world championships in Switzerland.
Canavans, mixed 600kg national champions
This is the second year to run this event following the success of last year’s championship in Leitir Mor. Once again the defending champions, Canavans from Co. Galway were very strong as they topped the round robin. They faced Boyneside in the semi final and progressed their way to the final with a straight end victory. Ballinastoe defeated Brideswell in the other semi final. There was no stopping the team from near Tuam in Co. Galway as they powered their way to an impressive victory to retain their title and stamp their authority on the mixed competition. Brideswell dug deep to defeat Boyneside in straight ends to win a well earned bronze medal.
See full results on our Results page.
Click here to see photos from today’s national championship in Tullow (note: there are 2 pages of photos).
Filed under: National Championships | Leave a Comment »
