McCann Cup 2017
The sun was shining in Omagh today for the McCann Cup races kindly sponsored by Ballymore Civils. 267 riders turned out for a day of racing covering Laps of the Seskinore circuit.
First off were the masters with close on 40 riders fighting for top 3 places and covering 3 laps. Mickey Gallen - OWCC- set the pace early on and this was maintained for the duration!
1st - Michael Toal - Phoenix
2nd - James McCusker - Shelbourne / Orchard Wheelers
3rd - Tom Henry - NDCC
Tom felt that good he went on to compete in the A4 race!! As we found out when we went looking for him for the presentation ..... :)
Women's race followed with 12 competitors - also completing 3 laps.
The team worked well together over the course.
1st - Christen O'Neill (Velo Cafe Magasin)
2nd - Laura Blair (Ballymena Road Club)
3rd - Meta Johnston (Team Madigan)
That concluded the morning races ...
Afternoon races consisted of a full field of 77 A4 (completing 4 laps), 78 A3 & Juniors (completing 6 laps), and A1 / A2 fielding 60 riders over 7 laps.
A4 race stayed together for the duration, with one spill coming up to the finish
1. Neil Rafferty - Armagh CC
2. Shea Gribbon - Carn Wheelers
3. Stephen McCay - SLCC
4. Gary Lyons - Armagh CC
5. Niall McElhinney - Foyle CC
6. Derek Ferguson - Kings Moss
7. Nigel Gibson - Carn Wheelers
8. Michael Boal - Team Madigan
9. Michael O Farrell - Longford CC
10. Gordon Watt -ETCC
A3 race covered 6 Laps and the juniors were in battle from the gun...It was fair to say that Powerhouse Sport Junior team dominated throughout
PJ Doogan, Breandan Flanagan, Adam Ward, along with Conor Halvey from NRPT got away early on and stayed away until last lap, but it came down to a sprint finish with Harvey Barnes from East Tyrone taking the verdict.
1. Harvey Barnes - ETCC
2. Liam Wilson - Powerhouse Sport
3. Robbie Doherty - Ballymoney CC
4. Sean McGarvey - Velo Cafe Magasin
5. Ross Blayney - NDCC
6. Adam Ward - Powerhouse Sport
7. Michael McGlynn - Omagh Wheelers
8. Stephen Daly - Termon Wheelers
9. Andrew Hedley - Ards CC
10. Richard Archer - ETCC
Lining up then for the A1 / A2 race was race winner yesterday Angus Fyffe - Omagh Wheelers, Marcus Christie - Performance SBR, Gary Jeffers -ETCC, Ronan McLaughlin - Aquablue sport , to name but a few ....
First lap saw 5 A1 riders swallow up the 2 min handicap on the A2 riders, with Gary Jeffers and Marcus Christie setting a roaring pace from the start...with both men unfortunately succumbing to mechanicals in lap 2...
This group of 5 quickly became 11 by lap 3, gaining close on 3 minutes on the main field by Lap 5.
Craig McAuley (Caldwell Cycles), Angus Fyffe (OWCC), Paul McCarter (DBCC), and Jude Sands (Newry Wheelers) maintained their lead to the end with Angus Fyffe comfortably taking first place, followed by Craig McAuley (Caldwell Cycles), Paul McCarter (DBCC), and Jude Sands (Newry Wheelers).
1st – Angus Fyffe (Omagh Wheelers)
2nd – Craig McAuley (Caldwell Cycles)
3rd – Paul McCarter (Donegal Bay CC)
4th – Jude Sands (Newry Wheelers)
5th - Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles)
6th - Dave Watson (Bikehouse CC)
7th - Davy McFall (Omagh Wheelers)
8th - Cameron McIntyre (AC Biscontine)
9th - Ronan McLaughlin (Aquablue Sport)
10th - Stevie McKenna (Omagh Wheelers)
Thank you very much to all our marshals today who helped out from our own club and neighbouring clubs! Without your help we could not the race to such a High standard. Thanks to our commissaires Kevin Hughes, Tommy McCague, Paul Devenney, and Francie Coyle, and our chief judge Ian Barfoot. Your help and guidance much appreciated as always!
Thanks to Martin Grainger and his team from Order of Malta for their expert assistance! Thanks to Joanne and team for refreshments at the race and to Ethna McGuigan and her team for a fantastic spread afterward. Thanks to Sorcha and her team at sign on, to Amanda McGale for organising marshals, and our team of sign putter uppers' barrier placers, road sweepers, and all the other unseen jobs that make our events so professional.....
Last but not least thank you to the organizing team: Hugh McCann, Seamus Keenan and Siobhan McGrath. This was the 15th edition of the McCann cup...starting out with 35 riders all those years ago!!.