Looking forward to the start of the old bird season I will require the list of members competing in each member club to be listed for the various competitions including Old Bird League, Old Bird Knock-Out and four lofts from each club to take part in the annual Champions League. It operates on a League/Points basis for several of the inland races up to the OB Inland National, and then continue with Knock-Out over the cross-channel programme with the final in Penzance. I am looking forward to having all the local clubs compete for the first time together after some few years of dispute witch in the main was not pigeon related, and with a changed situation can no longer be resolved or be any longer relevant or of value.
That don’t mean we don’t agree with the objections raised at the time, they should never have been pursued in the first place, as were not pigeon related. Its all long gone and can now never be sorted, best we return to a local competition that has been running for the best part of 45 years and should instead be keeping the memory going for those involved in the early days who are no longer here, and also, compete for the many Memorial Cups and trophies, put up by various families. That’s the memory we need to keep going and involve one and all with no exclusions.
Cullybackey won the Champions League in 2012 with Reid Bros & McCloy followed in 2013 by another ace racer Alan Darragh, the club are back competing in 2022 and no doubt hoping to make an impression again. A majority vote brought Cullybackey HPS back to the local competition, something similar would be satisfactory in both Harryville and Broughshane. Most of the members will be hoping to add to the number of 1st MAC Diplomas, one awarded to each loft only regardless of the number of winners. The Champions League winning list from 2008 is below and last season’s race winners and trophy winners follow that.
The Champions League winners over the years are as follows. 2008 R H Clements Harryville, 2009 D Dixon Rasharkin, 2010 M Graham Ballymena, 2011 Simon Millar Randalstown, 2012 Reid Bros & McCloy Cullybackey, 2013 A Darragh Cullybackey, 2014 Steele & McNeill Rasharkin, 2015 D Dixon Rasharkin, 2016 J & M Milliken Rasharkin, 2017 D Dixon Rasharkin, 2018 J & M Milliken Rasharkin, 2019 Mr & Mrs Robinson Ahoghill 2019, 2020 D Dixon Rasharkin, 2021 Mr & Mrs Robinson Ahoghill.
OLD BIRD RACES:
Tullamore 24/04/21 42 Members – 1207 Birds, 1. J & M Milliken 1421, 2. J Eagleson & Sons 1420, 3. J Eagleson & Sons 1419. Roscrea 01/05/21 56 Members – 1833 Birds, 1. R Service & Son 1535, 2. J Eagleson & Sons 1524, 3.T Whyte 1515. Gowran Park – (Frid) 07/05/21 60 Members – 1843 Birds, 1. J Eagleson & Sons 1500, 2. J Eagleson & Sons 1500, 3. S Murphy 1498. Fermoy – (Frid) 14/05/21 70 Members – 1966 Birds 1. Young McManus & Sons 1533, 2. Young McManus & Sons 1533, 3. J Eagleson & Sons 1528. Castletown – 22/05/21 55 Members – 1475 Birds, 1. S Crawford 1413, 2. Young McManus & Sons 1400, 3. J Eagleson & Sons 1399. Skibbereen Inl Nat 29/05/21, 1. Young McManus & Sons 1535, 2. F G & J Dickey 1520, 3. F G & J Dickey 1520, 4. Young McManus & Sons 1506, 5. N Bradley 1502, 6. Mr & Mrs Robinson 1501. Fermoy Comeback 29/05/21 47 Members – 1123 Birds,1. Young McManus & Sons 1562, 2. Young McManus & Sons 1562, 3. Young McManus & Sons 1539. 1st Talbenny (Sun) 06/06/21 52 Members – 961 Birds, 1. J Smyth & Son 1340, 2. McAlonan Bros 1334, 3. H Cubitt 1330. 2nd Talbenny 12/06/21 46 Members – 547 Birds, 1. W & J Smyth 1377, 2. F Barkley 1352, 3. Surgenor Bros 1347. 3rd Fermoy 12/07/21 42 Members – 705 Birds, 1. Harry Boyd 1573, 2. Harry Boyd 1570, 3. S Crawford 1569. Fermoy 5 Bird Champ 12/07/21, 1. Harry Boyd 1573, 2. Harry Boyd 1570, 3. S Crawford 1569, 4. Harry Boyd 1568, 5. Mr & Mrs Robinson 1551, 6.T & M Morrow 1538. Skibbereen Ylr Nat 19/06/21, 1. Young McManus & Sons 1687, 2. W McFetridge 1686, 3. Young McManus & Sons 1648, 4. Young McManus & Sons 1637, 5.T Whyte 1645, 6. D Dixon 1623. Bude 19/06/21 41 Members – 367 Birds, 1. Young McManus & Sons 1534, 2. Young McManus & Sons 1534, 3. Young McManus & Sons 1533. 4th Fermoy 26/06/21 29 Members – 355 Birds, 1. J Eagleson & Sons 1183, 2. J Eagleson & Sons 1139, 3. D Dixon 1131. Penzance Classic (Thur) 01/07/21, 1. W & J Smyth 1332, 2. W & J Smyth 1301, 3. Mr & Mrs Robinson 1288, 4. D Dixon 1284, 5. D Dixon 1269, 6. Mr & Mrs Robinson 1262. Penzance (Thur) 01/07/21 43 Members – 335 Birds, 1.W & J Smyth 1332, 2.W & J Smyth 1301, 3. Mr & Mrs Robinson 1288.
St Malo Nat (Thur) 01/07/21 38 Members – 146 Birds, 1. McAlonan Bros 725, 2. A C & T Tweed 578, 3. M Graham 570, 4.W Livingstone 533, 5. M Graham 424, 6. S Murphy 409, 7. M Graham 397, 8. Mr & Mrs Robinson 390.
YOUNG BIRD RACES:
Area Lib 1st Tullamore 17/07/21 28 Members – 680 Birds, 1. C Moore 1385, 2. C Moore 1384, 3. D Dixon 1377. Area Lib Mullingar 24/07/21 25 Members – 510 Birds, 1. A Shiels 1332, 2. C Moore 1312, 3. J Smyth & Son 1310. Area Lib 2nd Tullamore 31/07/21 50 Members – 1264 Birds, 1. D Dixon 1235, 2. D Dixon 1235, 3. D Dixon 1235. Roscrea (Tue) 10/08/21 42 Members – 885 Birds, 1. Blair & Rankin 1453, 2. Blair & Rankin 1453, 3. Blair & Rankin 1446. Gowran Park (Mon) 16/08/21 30 Members – 626 Birds, 1. J Eagleson & Sons 1296, 2. Mr & Mrs Robinson 1275, 3. John Millar 1250. 2nd Gowran Park (Mon) 23/08/21 28 Members – 525 Birds, 1. D Dixon 1412, 2.D Dixon 1412, 3. D Dixon 1411. Fermoy 28/08/21 37 Members – 447 Birds, 1. G Gibson 1418, 2. D Dixon 1413, 3. D Dixon 1413. Fermoy 5 Bird Champ 28/08/21, 1. G Gibson 1418, 2. J Rock 1396, 3. G Gibson 1393, 4. R H Clements 1369, 5. D Dixon 1367, 6. D Dixon 1367. Talbenny National 04/09/21 27 Members – 128 Birds, 1. G Gibson 1491, 2. D Dixon 1465, 3. Stewart Bros 1461, 4. A McBride 1456, 5. D Houston & Son 1374, 6. J & M Milliken 1363. Tullamore Comeback 04/09/21 25 Members – 454 Birds, 1. R Service & Son 1434, 2. F Barkley 1433, 3. Young McManus & Sons 1430. Skibbereen Nat 11/09/21 22 Members – 145 Birds, 1. D Dixon 1314, 2. D Dixon 1288, 3. D Dixon 1270, 4. J & M Milliken 1246, 5. D Dixon 1221, 6. D Dixon 1166.
I.N.F.C. RACES:
Skibbereen OB Nat (Tue) 01/06/21, 1. D Dixon 1232, 2. D Dixon 1212, 3. D Dixon 1209, 4. D Dixon 1196, 5. H Turkington 1181, 6. H Turkington 1164. Sennen Cove Ylr Nat (Wed) 01/06/21, 1. D Dixon 1244, 2. D Dixon 800, 3. M D C Magill 563, 4. Blair & Rankin 527, 5. G Gibson 445, 6. G & A Eagleson 405. St Allouestre Kings Cup (Thur) 08/07/21, 1. Stewart Bros 585, 2. M Graham 532, 3. R Alexander 368. Skibbereen YB Nat 18/09/21, 1. R Service & Son 1517, 2. D Dixon 1484, 3. D Dixon 1376, 4. D Dixon 1224, 5. D Dixon 1220, 6. D Dixon 1191.
Mid Antrim Combine 2021 Awards updates -
OB Inland Average - J Eagleson & Sons Ballymena, Cross Channel Average - A C & T Tweed Rasharkin 1073, OB Average - A C & T Tweed Rasharkin 1208, Mid Antrim Combine Meritorious Award best average 2nd Talbenny & Penzance - W & J Smyth Ballymena, Bryan Eagleson Memorial Cup - Best Average 1st & 2nd Talbenny, Bude & Penzance - Mr & Mrs Robinson Ahoghill, William McIlhagga Memorial Cup - 1st Combine OB Derby - McAlonan Bros Cullybackey, Les Mairs Memorial Cup - OB Points Fancier Of The Year - Young, McManus & Sons Ahoghill, Champions League - Mr & Mrs Robinson Ahoghill, OB Knock Out - Mr & Mrs Robinson Ahoghill, New North Cup - Best average Bude & Talbenny YB National - D Dixon Rasharkin, Adams Cup - National Points Cup - D Dixon Rasharkin, Herbinson Cup - YB Average - D Dixon Rasharkin, YB Points - D Dixon Rasharkin, T Shanks Memorial Cup - Old bird of the year -, Young bird of the year -, YB Club Points Shield -, OB Club Points Shield -, Parker Cup - Combined Average - No Winner, YB Knock Out - No Competition. Winner OB of the year Young McManus & Sons Ahoghill GB19A07737 - 44 Points - 1st, 2nd, 7th & 10th Combine. YB of the year Gary Gibson Cullybackey GB21C05611 - 41 Points - 1st, 1st & 5th Combine. All cups and trophies need to be returned to be engraved, prior to presentation along with winning Diplomas.
Just received good news from our race controller Jim Ramsay confirming the General License regarding pigeon racing is in place as of today (March 29). This should now give us the go-ahead for the channel as well as inland racing. Regards Fred Russell Secretary of NIPA.
Mr & Mrs Robinson of the Ahoghill Flying Club won the Champions League for the club in 2019 and 2021 seasons, fantastic flying. Rosie presents the winning Diploma and Shield to Laurence Robinson.
HOMER. Willie Reynolds
Tel/Fax: (028) 256 44683
Mobile: 07538 238364
Twitter: willie reynolds@homerbhw
Email: homerbhw@gmail.com
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