Frank Dunne of the Slaney CC came up trumps in the Betty Darcy Memorial held on a local circuit in the Gorey, Co. Wexford area today. A group of 15 escaped early on in the 4 by 22kms circuit. The initial lead they gained in the early stages of the race was to their benefit.
They had to contend with a south easterly wind which made the going tough, but equally the big bunch were in the same boat. In the end it came down to a sprint between the escapees with Frank Dunne showing a clean pair of wheels when he came through in fine style to deprive Sean Bracken of the Usher Irish Road club.
 |
| Betty Darcy Memorial - Picture by Tom Finn |
 |
| Betty Darcy Memorial - Picture by Tom Finn |
 |
| Betty Darcy Memorial - Picture by Tom Finn |
BETTY DARCY MEMORIAL RACE in Gorey 24/05/09
RESULTS
1 Frank Dunne – Slaney CC
2 Sean Bracken Usher IRC
3 Declan Kinch -Slipstream CC
4 Ciaran O’Conluain - UCD
5 Alex Williams – Slaney CC
6 Garreth Enright Dublin Wheelers
7 Denis McCarthy- Slipstream CC
8 Tighnearaigh Murphy - Bray Wheelers
Unplaced Categories
1st South East Road Club – John Maguire
1st veteran - Jason Stack – Usher IRC
1st Junior - Stephen McNamara- Clonmel
1st “C” - David Walsh Wexford Wheelers
 |
Marrey sprints to Gogarty cup win.
This race was held in tough windy wet conditions, and with the roads wide open there was no where to hide..
Daniel Kirwan looked to be the strongest rider in the race when he made repeated attacks but only to be closed down time and time again, eventually mid way through the 80k event a group of 5 riders got away Kirwan(Ushers), Clifford, Kelly(Galway Bay), Daley (Mayo Wheelers)and Stephen Mc Nally (Orwell) this group held a max lead of about 20 sec over 4 chasing riders Mark Quigley Padraig Marrey (Western Lakes CC) Brian O Donnell (West Coast Wheelers) and Bernard Towney ( Castlebar) with the bunch scattered over 2miles in the tough conditions.
Donal Kelly Galway Bay was unlucky to puncture out of the lead group just as the they looked to be pulling away, a quick wheel change and Kelly and Marrey make a big effort to close the gap to the leaders and just as they approached the first KOH Marrey made it to the back of the cavalcade with Kelly blowing up.
In the sprint for the KOH Marrey’s momentum netted him 1st over the top with Mc Nally 2nd and Daley 3rd.
These 5 riders stayed together for the last 18k with the only attack a sprint for the 2nd KOH, which Mc Nally won from Daley and Marrey 3rd leaving Mc Nally the clear winner of the KOH prize which was a day’s adventure activities at the K2 Adventure centre in Leenane..
In the sprint for the line Marrey jumped first holding of the challenge of Mc Nally Dundrum and Kirwan Usher IRC 3rd.
Renvyle House hotel sponsored this event
Full result
1st Padraig Marrey Western Lakes CC 80k in 2hrs 7mins
2nd Stephen Mc Nally Dundrum Orwell
3rd Daniel Kirwan Ushers IRC
4th Jay Daley Mayo Wheelers
5th Eoghan Clifford Galway Bay
6th Donal Kelly Galway Bay
KOH Stephen Mc Nally Dundrum Orwell sponsored By the K2 Adventure centre Leenane
Organiser JJ Flaherty thanked all the helpers, sponsors, and officials.
----
BOG WEEK GP
Kirwan solos to win the first edition of the Bog week GP in beautiful sunny conditions held in Letterfrack Co Galway.
Kirwan had attached earlier in the race with Eoghan Clifford but with 10k remaining Kirwan left Clifford to solo to a fine win, Bernard Towney made a huge effort catching and passing Clifford and attempted catching the Dublin man but narrowly failed but held of the bunch to get 2nd , Michael Devins returned to competition after a lapse of 5 years to win the sprint for 3rd catching Clifford on the line.
Full Results
1st Daniel Kirwan Usher IRC 64k in 1hr 35 mins
2nd Bernard Towney Castlebar CC
3rd Michael Devins Eire Og Sligo
4th Eoghan Clifford Galway Bay CC
5th Barry Sutton Engrave .ie
6th Brian Canty Kanturk CC
This event was sponsored by CONAMARA ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION & CULTURAL CENTRE
