Date: Sunday 13 October 2019
Event: Ulster Cyclo-cross 2019 – Round 2
Location: Necarne, Irvinestown, Co. Fermanagh
Host club: Lakeland Cycling Club
On Sunday 13 October 2019 the Ulster Cyclo-cross series returned to the equestrian centre of Necarne in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh. This was Round 2 of the series and was the third time that Lakeland CC had hosted at this venue. The sprawling venue, centred around the abandoned 16th century castle, provided a range of terrain for the course builders to work with. Race day had started with heavy fog which started to lift by the time the first race got underway. There was some rain just after the youth races which made for some slippery conditions under wheel. The day finished with bright sunshine.
The first race of the day was the ‘fun’ race for Under 6s. On the start line were 12 racers (7 boys and 5 girls) who, along with supporting helpers, completed 2 laps of the short course.
Next up were the Under 8s who were gridding based on the results from last week. Their course took them through the patch of trees beside the car park, onto the tarmac drive and back through the finish line. In the 2 lap race, Daragh Quigley (Foyle CC) got his second win in a row with William Sunderland (Apollo Cycling Team) second and Jack McGahan (Square Wheels) third. Aoife Campbell (Square Wheels) also got her second win when she finished ahead of Cassie Rocks (Island Wheelers) and Emmie Johnston (Square Wheels).
The Under 10s used the same course as the Under 8s but had 5 laps to complete. As per the Under 8s race, the winning boy and girl were the same from Round 1 – Josh McClune (Team Madigan C.C.) and Aoife Craig (VC Glendale). Completing the podium for the boys was Eunan Campbell (Square Wheels) with Darragh Murphy (Rostrevor Mountain Bike Club) third. Completing the podium for the girls was Clodagh Quigley (Foyle CC) and Aoife Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club).
The Under 12s course covered around a third of the main course. As per Round 1 there was a great battle at the front of the boys’ race with just 3 seconds between first and third place. Curtis McKee (Maryland Wheelers) repeating his victory from last week, Joshua Gallagher (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) was second and James Armstrong (Dromara Cycling Club) third. Cara Suckling (Maryland Wheelers) had to work hard to stay ahead of Aisha Gannon (Breffni Wheelers) to take the win in the girls’ race with Elisa Sunderland (Apollo Cycling Team) taking bronze position.
After a break for podium presentations, the Under 14s, Under 16s and Women lined up in the car park for the long run into the course. The Under 14s, 16s and Women’s Mountain Bike race had 3 laps to complete with the Women’s Cyclo-cross completing 4 laps. In the Under 14 boys’ race Conor Murphy (Rostrevor Mountain Bike Club) repeated his win from last week with Sam Coleman (Orchard CC) second and Reuben Maitland (Killinchy Cycling Club) third. Aine Doherty (VC Glendale) was away racing at the British series last week but returned for Round 2 to take a comfortable win in the Under 14 girls’ race finishing ahead of Aliyah Rafferty (Island Wheelers) with Tori Moffitt (Phoenix CC) third. Adam Gilseanan (Bohermeen CC) put on a great display in the Under 16 boys’ race as he fought to keep off in in-form Travis Harkness (Carn Wheelers) with Shane Scullion (Island Wheelers) taking third. The Under 16 girls’ race seen 4 riders competing this week with Annie Roche (Scott Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) taking the win ahead of Erin Creighton (McConvey Cycles) and Katie Reilly (Orwell Wheelers). The ever smiling Leona Farrell took the chequered flag for the second week in a row in the Women’s MTB race. The Foyle CC riders of Elizabeth Quigley and Karen Wynne took second and third respectively.
There were 18 riders on the start line for the Women’s Cyclo-cross race. Niamh McKiverigan (Scott Eurocycles.com) was off racing at the Supercross Cup in Dublin last week but was back to winning ways in the Ulster series as she finished around 1 minute ahead of Junior rider Darcey Harkness (Carn Wheelers) with Rachel Irvine (The Bike House CC) taking third. First unplaced Master went to Judith Russell (Phoenix CC) who finished fourth with fifth placed rider, Stephanie Roche (Scott Eurocycles.com), taking the first unplaced Junior rider’s prize.
After another break for podium presentations the Men’s Cyclo-cross A’ race took place over 5 laps. As expected there was lots of action in this race with Thomas Creighton (McConvey Cycles) doing his usual stunt of taking off like a greyhound at the start. For this event Thomas managed to keep away to take the win. Junior rider Darren Rafferty (Island Wheelers) put on an impressive performance to take second with Round 1 winner, Graham Boyd (McConvey Cycles), having to settle for third place. Sean Nolan (Navan Road Club) finished fourth and took the first unplaced Espoir rider prize. Barry Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) was fifth and took the first unplaced M40 prize. First unplaced Junior went to Dean Harvey (VC Glendale) who finished 7th and who was able to grab bragging rights over his older brother Lee who finished 16th. Peter Buggle (Rocky Mountain) took the first unplaced M50 prize. The team prize went to McConvey Cycles when Jack Ferguson joined Thomas and Graham at the finish.
The final race of the day was for the Men’s Cyclo-cross B’ race and the Men’s Mountain Bike support race. Tomas Knapcok (Clogher Valley Wheelers) improved on his 5th place finish at Round 1 to take the win in the Cyclo-cross B’ race. Mark Gordon (Newry Wheelers CC) finished second with Mark Malone (Phoenix CC) third. Paul Hamilton (Dromara Cycling Club) took 4th with Pete Hughes (Armagh City Cyclists) and Geoff Alderdice (Dromore CC) taking 5th and 6th respectively. In the MTB support race Sean McIntyre (Caldwell Cycles Omagh) finished well ahead of Brian McAuley (Unattached) with Stephen Daly (Termon Wheelers) taking third.
After the race the riders could make their way back to the car park where there was hot food (soup, sausages and chips) as well as cold snacks in the form of icecream! A super finish to a great day. Many thanks to Mark McGirr and all his team from Lakeland CC for hosting the event. Thanks to the management at the Necarne centre for their hospitality. The next round will be held at Falls Park in Belfast by host club VC Glendale. See www.ulstercyclocross.com for details.
Results here
Overall league table here
Commissaires: Lisa Millar, Jim Adams and Martin Grimley
Report by Martin Grimley
Photos
Belgium Project report – here
Richard Cowan (Facebook) – here
