Despite the rain there was another great turnout for the TTT on Thursday night. See the results and league table as it stands after the penultimate round here.
As is so often the case in this event the IRC "A" team proved absolutely unbeatable with a scorching time of 37'13", with close to a two minute gap back to second place, but there was plenty of Orwell interest after that.
Best of the rest were two Orwell teams, with the team of Dave McLoughlin, Dylan Rafter, Stephen McNally and Tom Blennerhasset surviving the loss of McNally to a puncture to hold off Diarmuid Collins, Lloyd Berry, Martin Caddow and Patrick Conlon by a slender six second margin at the finish.
Fourth and fifth places were taken by the second IRC team followed by the Lucan team, with further Orwell placings in sixth in the form of Fionn Sheridan and Paul Tansey riding on a mixed Lucan/Orwell team.
With so many points on offer at this stage in the league the TTT often has a significant effect on the final outcome, and while this year it didn't change any placings it has set us up with a cliffhanger for the final round. The league overall has been wrapped up by Paul Dolan of the IRC, but there are only five points now separating the top three Orwell riders.
Pat Conlon stays best of the Orwell, but Patrick O'Brien sits in second place only four points back, and adding even more spice to the mix Tom Blennerhasset is only one point further behind. Conlon will surely be hoping for Limit to stay away in next Thursday's final round, as if Semi-scratch take the points the Orwell title could easily go to either of the other men.
Caroline Martinez has finally wrapped up the Women's title, not even needing to show up next week to top the table, with Ciara Kinch in second place a long way ahead of Valerie Considine (IRC) in third.
The final round will be a Black Bull handicap run by St.Tiernans, with prize giving in Batterstown afterwards. Keep an eye on the websites for more details.
Orwell top 10 after round 21:
- Pat Conlon Scratch 109 points;
- Patrick O'Brien S-S 105;
- Tom Blennerhasset S-S 104;
- Diarmuid Collins S-S 98;
- Peter Killeen S-L 92;
- Noel Flanagan L 92;
- Conor Montague S-L 90;
- Dylan Rafter S 87;
- Michael Hanley S-L 86;
- Dave McLoughlin S 86.
