There must be something in the water in the Murnane household, with both races this week won by the emerging riders. Seán Murnane won a aggressive race on Wednesday, while Conor Murnane came out on top from a more negative competition on Thursday. All the action below, including videos of both finishes!

The TTT round of the league went down to the wire this year, with only six seconds separating the top two teams after the handicaps were applied, while the hill climb championships were even tighter, Fionn Sheridan winning by less than a second from Brian McArdle.

An excellent team performance from Orwell on Sunday saw Bryan Geary take a top ten slot in the National A3 Championships, and the club go home with the team classification. Stephen Barry, Bernard English, Mark Holand, Brian McNally, Jamie Busher, and Garry Blair all played their part alongside Geary, who takes us through the race below!

After last week's prologue, the bunches got into some fast and furious crit racing this week, with separate nights for the Limit and Scratch groups. John Blennerhassett emerged triumphant from the winning break on Wednesday, while Valdis Andersons once again displayed his dominance on Thursday.

When the Rás is on, sometimes other events can get lost and forgotten. Stephen Barry made it one to remember when he won the Barrow GP A4 race in style, capping a late solo move with a great win! He takes us through it below...

Registration for the 2016 Orwell League will close at the end of February, so make sure you get your entries in before then. To whet your appetite for a bit of racing, we're finally publishing a round-up on last year's league, as well a report on the last round, won by Stephen Barry, with Colin Caesar hot on his heels.

Further along the age categories the seniors have been holding their own, with several big results in the last ten days. The A4s have enjoyed a great week's racing. Earlier last week, in the Boyne GP and St Patrick's Day race, Garry Blair and Brendan Lawless scored two smashing A4 victories, and Paul Kane took 4th in the latter. Lawless then earned his A3 upgrade with 3rd at the Des Hanlon, while Neal Hudson took an unplaced A2 prize. There were also two Orwells in the top ten for the women - Michelle Geoghegan and Brianne Mulvihill.

The first full handicap of the league saw Scratch dominate the placings despite a concerted Limit effort to stay away, with Brian Ahern taking the win from Patrick O'Brien.

The first of two Sallygap finishes ran over a tougher than usual circuit, and produced one worthy winner in the shape of Diarmuid Collins. All the action below!

At Pine Forest last night, all eyes were on Dick O’Brien and Tom Blennerhassett after their recent Rás Mhaigh Eo showings, and they duly did their duty and delivered despite a dismal Dublin deluge dampening their deeds.

On the same day that Marcel Kittel sprinted to victory in Belfast, our own Bernard English did the same a little further south. Mark Mulcahy and Eamon Finn also placed at Dunsany, while earlier in the week Claire McEntee chalked up a superb time in Dundalk to take the Leinster 10TT title.

After catching up with the women's incredible haul of medals, it's time to turn our attention to the feats of the (mostly) men, with Neal Hudson getting on the A2 podium in the Wexford 2 Day, then grabbing gold in the Leinster Hill Climb. Conor Murnane brought home bronze for the Junior cat in that event, while back in Wexford Stephen Barry put in a great hill climb to take 4th in the A4 event. There was also a haul of medals from the track league, thanks to Fionn Sheridan, Stephen McNally, David Swift, Uisneach Sheridan - and also Naoise Sheridan (who obviously doesn't belong in the men's category, but all the medals look well together).

With the league now done and dusted, we dip back into the final two rounds - Brian McArdle's ascendency on Kilmashogue, and Sean Barry's victory in Glencullen.

Two races in early September saw two A4 performances of note - one a regular racer, the other almost a complete novice. David Maher got his long-overdue upgrade to A3 with a 3rd at the head of the bunch sprint in Laragh, while Chris Mollaghan made a impression at his first stage race, with 12th in the TT and 5th in the final stage, narrowly missing out on a top ten overall spot. Plenty more racing action below!

The first of our reports from the open races for 2015 sees results across the Juniors and Seniors, and men and women! Conor Murnane opened the club's account in Monasterevin, and the second weekend witnessed Chris Mollaghan and Ciara Kinch clock up two more placings in the senior categories.

The opening round of the 2014 Orwell League saw some super fast times set for the Pine Forest course, with Eric Downey resuming where he left off for the 2013 league - at the top.

The five riders and support personnel to represent Scott Orwell at An Post Rás, Ireland’s top international stage race for men, have been announced.

One dramatic chase resulted in Seán Murnane taking a large bunch sprint, while another duller affair saw Semi-scratch settle affairs with Freddie Stevens fastest in a small gallop. Corkagh Park racing is different every race, full reports below!

Aidan Collins brought home the best results of the weekend for the club, with a 4th in the Stamullen GP on Sunday, and an unplaced prize on Friday. Odhrán Connors and Stephen Barry also featured in Stamullen, while the Orwell women were active in Nenagh, with a TTT win, and placings for Ciara Kinch and Monica Marconi.

So this was it. A hard year of training was complete. There had been many sacrifices along the way. I had cut back on the treats, eased off the sauce and succumbed to a diet of low intensity monster miles each weekend come rain, hail or shine. My family had suffered with me.