Peter Gerrard continued his winning streak in the club league, taking the sprint to win the Scratch/Semi-Scratch race for the second week running, while David Maher showed his strength to take the win in the Limit/Semi-Limit race last night.
High winds and driving rain made for tough conditions in Corkagh Park. With only three Scratch riders signing on, the handicap given to Semi-Scratch was smaller this week, but still didn't prevent a determined break from the Semi-Scratch group staying away to contest the top five place.
Gerrard, Tom Blennerhassett, Liam Rowsome, Cormac Bracken and Gavin Dodd all broke away from the main Semi-Scratch group early in the race and the well drilled group kept up a fearsome pace in the conditions to establish the winning move.
Behind them Pat O’Brien, Diarmuid Collins, Eric Downey offered a determined chase, joined by Pat Conlon and Martin Caddow, who’d missed their start in Semi-Scratch. While the Scratch group caught and passed the remains of the Semi-Scratch bunch, they never got less than 20 seconds behind the break.
The finale saw Gerrard enhance his burgeoning reputation as a fearsome sprinter as he took the win from Tom Blennerhassett for the second week running. Rowsome took third spot, while Bracken followed him in fourth. Gavin Dodd, who'd lost contact with the break late in the race managed to hold off a charging scratch bunch to take fifth, while Pat O’Brien showed some gas to take sixth in the gallop from the scratch group.
The Limit/Semi-Limit race saw the Limit group capitalise on its handicap to stay away and mop up all of the placings. Early into the race, five Semi-Limit riders decided to up the pace and break off the front of their bunch to hunt down limit. However the windy conditions saw the group break up quickly, leaving only three riders attempting to get across.
Limit meanwhile rode a very disciplined race and managed to grow its lead on the chasers, so much so that it lapped the main Semi-Limit bunch in the latter part of the race.
The concluding sprint some exceptionally strong finishing performances. David Maher surged ahead of the group on the final straight to take a convincing win by several bike lengths. Behind him Oisin Boland also got a good gap on his pursuers to take second. He was followed home by Ryan McCarthy in third sport. Paul Kane got up to take fourth, while Jules Cantwell was in the points with fifth and Brian Doyle rounded out the placings in sixth.
Some photos available here courtesy of SwimCycleRun.com
Orwell League R3: Corkagh Park Criterium
Race #1 (L/SL)
1 David Maher (L)
2 Oisin Boland (L)
3 Ryan McCarthy (L)
4 Paul Kane (L)
5 Jules Cantwell (L)
6 Brian Doyle (L)
Race #2 (S/SS)
1 Peter Gerrard (SS)
2 Tom Blennerhassett (SS)
3 Liam Rowsome (SS)
4 Cormac Bracken (SS)
5 Gavin Dodd (SS)
6 Patrick O'Brien (S)
