Water-jump judge sinks Irish hopes

EQUESTRIAN

IRELAND’S chances of adding the Longines FEI Nations Cup title to European team gold were dashed in Barcelona last night by the decision of the water-jump steward, WRITES LOUISE PARKES

With only the top eight teams eligible for tomorrow’s finale to the €2m contest, it was critical that the four faults allocated to Bertram Allen and his mare Molly Malone at the open water was removed. If that happened then Ireland would finish on just one of the four-fault results produced by Shane Sweetnam and Shane Breen because Denis Lynch jumped clear with All Star.

An attempt to appeal what the judge believed to be a foot in the water was to no avail, and Ireland’s ninth-place finish, on a total of eight faults like Belgium, Sweden and Switzerland but with a slower time by less than a second, saw them miss the cut to the big-money finale.

Chef d’Equipe Rodrigo Pessoa was adamant that Allen should not have been penalised. The rule allows for the horse’s boot to leave an impression on the plasticine that lines the edge of the water jump but a hoof-print is disallowed.

“The rule of not being able to appeal because it’s the water judge that has the last word… it’s difficult to accept it when you see that you are right,” Pessoa said. “You can see that something lands on it, you can deduce after you see the boot and the plasticine together that it’s the boot touching the plasticine and not the hoof of the horse. We know it’s close with all the teams, and when you’re not good enough you’re not good enough. But here we are good enough to be back (and) we are not allowed.”

GOLF

IRELAND ended their Senior Men’s Home International Championship campaign in style with a crushing 7.5-1.5 victory over Wales at Rosslare to bag the runners-up position as England retained the title.

Ireland beat Scotland 6-3 in their delayed match before making light work of Wales, with the stand-out displays coming from Westport’s Liam Halpin and Billy Donlon.

Robin Dawson, meanwhile, is best-placed of the Irish players bidding to secure their spot in the second stage of the European Tour qualifying school in Portugal.

The Tramore star is just one stroke outside the magic mark after a one-under-par 71 yesterday and left him with a 54-hole aggregate of 212. Castleknock’s David Carey looked to be on the charge with four birdies in seven holes but two bogeys meant he signed for a 70, which left him two strokes off the current qualification mark. At the corresponding event in France, Cian McNamara from Monkstown and Limerick’s Tim Rice are both two-over par after three rounds and six strokes adrift.

Annabel Wilson’s hopes of glory in the World Junior Girls’ Championship are over after a six-over- par 78 on day three. .

Lauren Walsh (Castlewarden) Mairead Martin (Kanturk) are 12-over and 22-over respectively.