Flying into the NW - Fermoy 23/08/13

willie reynolds · Post by **willie reynolds** » Sun Aug 25, 2013 11:12 am

On we go this week to Fermoy in County Cork, and heading for the two hundred mile mark for most of the North West fanciers. Back to a mass liberation this week also, with last week’s area liberation proving to be a very tight affair, and not really the result that was expected from the decision to go it alone. This week’s mass liberation seemed to be a better result if you take a look at the velocities, but returns are still not where they should be, with birds still coming all day long. Again, you always seem to have a small group of birds that make good time, the rest, who knows what happens to them. Perhaps it’s the case as some have suggested, that the young birds have learnt a bad line from earlier races, and cannot correct themselves. They then follow the main drag up the East coast and leave themselves with a huge dog leg to fly in order to get home, if in fact they come home at all, and judging by the dwindling number of birds being entered a lot of birds have gone missing over the past few weeks. In saying that, we are not alone when it comes to losses. Anyone who reads any of the weekly magazines, or happens to be on line, will be well aware of the losses all over the British Isles.

Anyway, let’s get on with the results, and this week we must start up in Limavady, where we have our Section winner Willie Mc Ilmoyle. Willie has been really consistent all year, and this Section win with top off a great season so far for him. Ronnie Witherow is the bridesmaid this week again, with John Mc Cool in third spot. The full result then for Limavady looked like this, 1st W Mc Ilmoyle 1354, 2nd and 6th R Witherow 1297, 3rd and 5th J Mc Cool 1295 and 1283, 4th R Mc Ilmoyle 1285, 7th and 8th D Mc Cool, 9th J Kerr.

In the Londonderry club this week, it’s that man Flanagan again dominating things. Leo has a super fly, taking the first four positions, with J+D Kelly making up the top five. Leo’s birds are always in top form and I’m sure will continue to dominate over the last few races. The result then for the Londonderry club looks like this, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th L Flanagan 1325, 1214, 1194 and 1193, 5th and 8th J+D Kelly 1125, 6th D Simpson, 7th D Kelly, 8th B Houston. (5 Members sent 26).

Over in the Derry and District this week, a welcome return to top spot for Kieran Reid, who by his own standards, is having a bit of a lean time. Kieran I’m sure will be very happy to get back to winning ways. Second this week is Anthony Mc Crudden, with Michael Moran making the frame in third and fourth, and last week’s winner, Paul Hegarty making up the top five. The result then looked like this, 1st B+K Reid 1330, 2nd, 6th and 10th A Mc Crudden 1323, 3rd and 4th L+M Moran 1321,1320, 5th,7th and 9th P Hegarty 1317, 8th Cooley Bros. (12 members sent 153).

Down at the Maiden City club this week, and it’s another name in pole position . Concannon Brothers show the rest the way home in what again is another long overdue win. The brothers haven’t raced much really when it comes to young birds, but will be over the moon to get a win. Pat Mc Laughlin almost fills out the rest of the top six on his own, with Martin Healy sneaking in for third. The full Maiden City result was, 1st Concannon Bros 1327, 2nd, 4th , 5th and 6th P Mc Laughlin 1314, 1220, 1034, 1011. (9 members sent 50).

In the Amelia Earhart this week, we have another new name leading the pack. Gerald Ferguson, who has been knocking at the door for the past few weeks, finally breaks his novice status and is well ahead of the next bird. Gerald also takes third and seventh positions, to round off a great result. Congratulations again to Gerald on a super result. The full result for the Amelia looked like this, 1st, 3rd and 7th G Ferguson 1316, 1087, 2nd W+D Hamilton 1247, 4th J Quigley 958, 5th and 6th C Fox 922, 8th E Quigley, 9th S Campbell.

Up in Strabane this week, another man who we haven’t heard of in a while gets back to winning ways as well this week. John (Buddy) Gamble gets a welled earned red card at last, and also takes seventh. The Strabane result was 1st and 7th J Gamble 1269, 2nd and 5th T Mc Ateer 125, 1111, 3rd H Mc Nulty 1184, 4th and 6th D Mc Nulty 1135, 8th and 9th I Deasley.

And finally to round things off, another new name takes the honours up in the Omagh club. James Taggert finally gets his win, having always been in the frame over the past few weeks. Congratulations then to James, who also takes sixth. The ever present Alan Kelly takes the next three positions, with Ron Harkness getting in for fifth spot . The full Omagh result was, 1st and 6th J Taggert, 1181 and 1020, 2nd, 3rd and 4th A Kelly 1177, 1176 and 1148, 5th R Harkness 1025.

In the Fed this week, the top ten looked like this, 1st Tony Bradley 1331, 2nd B+K Reid 1330, 3rd Concannon Bros 1327, 4th L Flanagan 1325, 5th A Mc Crudden 1323, 6th and 7th L+M Moran 13231,1320, 8th P Hegarty 1317, 9th R +G Ferguson 1316, 10th P Mc Laughlin 1314.

Congratulations to all our winners, especially our Section Winner Willie Mc Ilmoyle, and to all the club winners and those who managed to get a position
billyknox@btinternet.com

Concannon Bros win Maiden City.

Leo Flanagan top four in Londonderry.