Eric Downey increased his lead in the club league at round 16 in Corkagh Park after netting a convincing win in the A race over breakaway companion Gavin Dodd. In the B race a break of three stayed away, with Julian Moore taking the win ahead of Ronan Grimes and Brian Doyle.
The A race saw a four man semi-scratch group work well to keep their handicap in the early stages of the race, with the scratch group's chase effort disrupted by some early splits in the wet conditions. When the catch did come, David Halpin launched a gutsy solo attack to get a decent gap on the bunch. Peter Gerrard made a serious effort to get across to Halpin but his bid was foiled by some strong surges for scratch which brought first him and then Halpin back into the fold.
After a lull in the race Eric Downey pushed hard to pull our a 10 second advantage. Gavin Dodd then rode across to Downey and the pair worked well together to pull out a 15 second lead. The impressive Halpin then pulled away from the bunch and established enough of a gap to make his pursuers lose heart.
Downey put in a searing attack midway through the final lap that Dodd couldn't match, leaving him to come home with second. Those placings were carbon copies of the most recent crit, results while earlier the Limit race also had another repeat winner. Halpin's display netted him third, while Peter Gerard won the bunch gallop over Cormac Bracken and Philippe Bourdarias.
In the B race a three man limit group was caught quickly by the 18 man semi-limit contingent. Semi-limit rode hard from the gun and several splits occurred in the first three laps. There was no let up in proceedings once the catch was made and after some aggresive moves a three man group of Julian Moore, Ronan Grimes and Brian Doyle got away. The trio worked very well together to establish a convincing lead. By the time the break's speed began to flag a much reduced chase group had begun to lose its momentum, allowing them to stay away and claim the podium places.
Moore was first to the chalk, repeating his crit win from R13. He's currently the highest of the Semi-limit group in the league standings, and with that many points and two wins to his name, it won't be long before he's competing against the Scratch men.
The bunch gallop saw evergreen Paul Tansey take a fine fourth place ahead of Jeffrey Hoare and Darragh Sheeran.
Orwell League R16: Corkagh Park Criterium
Race #1 (L/SL)
1 Julian Moore (SL)
2 Ronan Grimes (SL)
3 Brian Doyle (SL)
4 Paul Tansey (L)
5 Jeffrey Hoare (SL)
6 Darragh Sheeran (SL)
Unplaced woman:
Monica Marconi
Race #2 (S/SS)
1 Eric Downey (S)
2 Gavin Dodd (S)
3 David Halpin (SS)
4 Peter Gerrard (S)
5 Cormac Bracken (SS)
6 Philippe Bourdarias (S)
