(30 Jul 2010)
THE Irish show jumping team of Shane Breen, Dermott Lennon, Billy Twomey and Denis Lynch finished sixth of nine teams at the British Nations' Cup in Hickstead, Sussex this afternoon (Friday) on a total of 36 faults.
A difficult course saw high scores from most teams in the first round, except for the British, who finished on just four faults on their home turf, followed by Germany on 14. Ireland's tally at the halfway mark was 26.
The Irish second round was marred by an unfortunate fall at the notorious Hickstead water jump by Dermott Lennon and 'Hallmark Elite', earning automatic elimination under FEI rules, and removing Ireland's discard allowance.
Billy Twomey and 'Je t'Aime Flamenco' delivered a clear second round with just one time fault, while Denis Lynch and 'Nabab's Son' returned a zero score after faulting three times in the first round.
However, without the advantage of being able to discard Shane Breen's nine faults on his second time out, the Irish total came to 36.
Britain won the Nations' Cup on an aggregate of seven penalties, mostly made up of time faults.
Ireland's finish today dropped the team to fifth place overall in the Meydan Nations' Cup rankings, with Dublins' Aga Khan Trophy competition the only leg left of the 2010 eight-competition series.
Afterwards Team Ireland Equestrian Show Jumping Manager Robert Splaine said: "It was an extremely tough course, as was illustrated by the scores, and by Dermott Lennon's unfortunate fall at the water jump, but our objective was to come here with a strong team and secure our position on the 2010 Meydan leaderboard and put our relegation worries to bed, and in that we were successful."
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| Robert Splaine |