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World title for Tug-O-War team
26.02.08
Story: Inishowen Independent
THE TUG of War World Championships in Faenza,
Northern Italy, witnessed a truly dramatic
conclusion to the 640kg category on Saturday when
the Clonmany B team beat all the odds to lift the
gold medal and were crowned world champions.
The story of this triumph started 12 months ago when
the senior members of the team, namely the captain
Pat Doherty (PV), and vice captains Daniel Doherty (Ranty)
and Kevin McLaughlin decided that a new approach was
needed in order to reach the pinnacle of the sport.
The squad that included Steven McDaid, Christy
McDaid, George Jackson, brothers Michael and Aiden
Doherty (Andy) and Daniel Junior and Patrick Doherty
(Ranty) committed themselves to a punishing training
schedule that they hoped would bring them close to
contention.
Their training and nutritional regime was strictly
applied by their trainer Peter Doherty (Saddler),
manager of The Gym, Carndonagh. Under the
experienced tuition of Peter McLaughlin (Oggie) and
James Cannon on the rope, the pieces started to come
together and Clonmany B began to resemble contenders
by the time they arrived in Italy. |
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However, all that
preparation had to be put to good use in the fine
3,000 seat arena in Faenza on the day and the team
were taken by surprise in the first meet by the
unorthodox Italian champions Torino, but they
recovered sufficiently to win both pulls. The Swiss
club champions Stans were the next victims
as the B’s got into their stride. The preparation in
training becoming evident as the team grew stronger
by winning the next three meets without difficulty
against Spanish national champions Abidinio, another
Italian team and the French club representatives
Nappurak as they progressed as group winners into
the quarter finals.
Scottish champions Ayrshire awaited and in the
tensest contest so far, the B team eventually won
through. Pre-tournament favourites Kilroe were the
B’s semi-final opponents, and many observers felt
that this would be the end of the road, but the
Clonmany men’s superior strength and hunger took the
English champions 2-0 much to the surprise of
everyone except the squad themselves.
The final promised to be a titanic battle against
the Irish heavyweights Mountain View. The first pull
saw the Louth men take the B team forward on the mat
for the first time since the opening contest and
tensions were high among the Clonmany contingent.
But the effort of gaining five foot proved
exhaustive and when the Bs began to apply pressure
the Mountain View men were progressively dragged up
the mat. With one pull left for gold the B team
showed no mercy in the ultimate contest and from the
outset and were in complete command to pull
themselves to glory and the gold medal.
Earlier on Saturday the Carndonagh team represented
themselves with great courage in the 560kg event
when they were narrowly beaten to the bronze in the
third place play off. The Carn men had emerged out
of a very tough group and could not find enough
reserve in the semis to get themselves a final
berth. A demanding travelling schedule that had seen
the boys having to be on the road for 18 hours in
order to reach the venue and get weighed in, took
its toll.
Nonetheless they can feel justifiably proud of their
achievements and this was rewarded as the team was
requested to represent Ireland in that weight
category and with the assistance of Patrick Doherty
(Ranty) they succeeded in winning the bronze. This
success once again defeated the odds and was a
testament to the spirit of the team as they had to
recover from a shaky start.
The 600 kg category that took place in Friday
morning left another opportunity for the same B
squad that had won the 640 gold to add to their
medal haul. The groups were bigger in this contest
but the boys looked to be in good shape to progress
out of theirs until a controversial refereeing
decision by a Dutch judge during the B’s pull
against crack Dutch outfit, and eventual bronze
medallists Lagerwij, proved to be their undoing.
The ref inexplicably granted two cautions against
the Clonmany men and these cautions later proved to
be their undoing as both teams ended up on the same
points but the B team were eliminated as a result of
having more reprimands. Therefore their chance of
further silverware was cruelly taken away from them
and the men from the Netherlands progressed to the
semis.
Despite this setback the Clonmany B team are
delighted to take home the World Championship trophy
to Inishowen and have done the peninsula proud. |
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