I will start this week with the Limavady club, who unfortunately only got their birds away to Roscrea, missing out on the chance to go to the National race. Their birds were actually refused at the centre in Coleraine as they got there five minutes after the cut off time. The men taking the bird’s to the centre were caught up in the unusually heavy traffic on the way to Coleraine, due to the North West 200 taking place their this week. They were also the last club to arrive, and only had eighteen birds to send. Did the man in charge of the centre cut them any slack taking everything into account? Not An Inch. In fact after being turned away, the men set off for Limavady again, and passed the transporter which was stuck in traffic on the Limavady side of Coleraine. Bring your bird’s to the Derry centre any more lads, no problems with cut off times up here.
We will stay with the Limavady club to start with this week and look at their Roscrea result. And it’s not all bad as Ronnie Witherow takes another Section win, with a super race that sees him take five of the first six positions. Willie Mc Ilmoyle stops a clean sweep, with a good second position. The full result then for the Limavady club looks like this, 1st, 3rd, 4th 5th and 6th R Witherow 1264, 1256,1182,1181,1179, 3rd and 7th W Mc Ilmoyle 1259, 8th D Johnston, 9th H Crawford, 10th J Kerr.
Up in Omagh this week we have our Section winner from the National race, Alan Kelly. Alan has been flying really well all season and just to top things off, he makes it a double, winning from Roscrea as well. A great day’s work for Alan then. Close behind in both races is Alan Hall and between them they almost fill the Roscarberry result, which looked liked this, 1st,2nd and 5th A Kelly 1118,1107,1089, 3rd,4th and 6th A Hall 1103,1094,1078, 7th K Armstrong 1064. From Roscrea as we have mentioned, Alan Kelly takes the honours again, with Alan Hall in third and Kenny Armstrong taking three of the top six. The full result was 1st and 2nd A Kelly 1242,1232, 3rd A Hall 1156, 4th, 5thand 6th K Armstrong 1151,1151,1141, 7th R Adams 1139, 8th Mr+Mrs Chism.
In Strabane this week it’s the Tony Conway show again, with Tony winning both races. Another loft in great form, Tony adds another two red cards to his growing list of wins for the year. The Roscarberry result looks like this, 1st,2nd and 6th T Conway 958,922,834, 3rd and 4th T Mc Bride 915,881, 5th G Quinn 854. From the Roscrea race the result was 1st,2nd,4th,5th and 8th T Conway 1191,1188,1165,1165, 3rd,6th and 9th G Quinn 1178, 10th D Mc Nulty.
On to the Amelia Earhart club next, where topping the Roscarberry result we have Willie and Darren Hamilton, who always do well from the big races. Eamon Quigley gets close with second, while Cathal Fox takes a good third position. Only seven in the result which looked like this, 1st and 5th W+D Hamilton 967,888, 2nd E Quigley 955, 3rd C Fox 925, 4th and 6th M Mc Closkey 891,849, 7th A Mitchell 757. From Roscrea, Tommy White dominates again, taking the top three spots, with Eamon Quigley in again in forth and Micky Mc Closkey in fifth. The result for Roscrea was as follows, 1st,2nd and 3rd T White 1188,1187,1181, 4th and 10th E Quigley 1119, 5th,7th and 8th M Mc Closkey 1107, 6th W+D Hamilton, 9th A Mitchell.
In the Maiden City club this week, Concannon brothers take yet another red card with a win from Roscrea. P+M Healy are close behind in second, with the Concannon brothers in again to take third, good racing from Michael again, whose birds are hitting a bit of form recently. The full Roscrea result looked like this, 1st and 3rd Concannon Bros 1176,1157, 3rd P+M Healy 1169, 4th,7th and 8th F Ramsey 1150, 6th Coyle Bros, 9th and 10th P Mc Laughlin.
Over in the Derry and District this week Jim and Gary Ramsey take the top award with a great fly from the National race. Jim and Gary have been close over the last few weeks and a good win was on the cards. Veteran flyer Tony Mullan makes a welcome return to the frame with a good second, with Sean Healy in third. The full result for the Roscarberry race was 1st and 4th J+G Ramsey 1029,902, 2nd T Mullan + Son 931, 3rd and 8th S Healy 908, 5th,6th and 7th A Mc Crudden 885, 9th S Duffy, 10th C Mc Conomy. From the Roscrea race, another veteran flyer, Sean Duffy has a very good race taking first, fourth and fifth. Anthony Mc Crudden is close behind in second and third. The full result for Roscrea was as follows, 1st,4thand 6th S Duffy 1215,1185, 2nd and 3rd A Mc Crudden 1197,1187, 5thand 7th J+G Ramsey 1172, 8th,9th and 10th M Chism and Son.
Over at the Derry Centre, the top ten in the National race was as follows, 1st Concannon Bros 1051, 2nd P Maxwell Jnr 1048, 3rd J+G Ramsey 1029.5, 4th P+M Healy 1029.4, 5th J Cassidy 10120, 6th B Page, 7th N Murray, 8th L Flanagan, 9th W+D Hamilton, 10th N Mc Grotty.
The City Of Derry Fed Result for Roscrea looked like this, 1st S Duffy 1215, 2nd,4th and 5th L Flanagan 1199,1194,1190, and 3rd A Mc Crudden 1197.
Well done again to our Section winners Alan Kelly and Ronnie Witherow, and well done to all the club winners and everyone who took a position.
Just got an update from the Maiden City, the Roscarberry result was 1st and 3rd Concannon Bros 1051, 944, 2nd P+M Healy 1029, 4th S Quigley,Son and Grandson, 5th T Morrison
billyknox@btinternet.com
Concannon Bros, Maiden City
1st City of Derry Fed Rosscarbery.
J & G Ramsey 1st Derry & District from Rosscarbery.
Tommy White 1st Amelia Earhart from Roscrea.
Tony Mullan 2nd Derry & Dist from Rosscarbery.