Conor Hennebry pulled clear with Philip Lavery in the Bobby Power Memorial in Carrick-on-Suir yesterday on a day when the top men rose to the top (Photo: Brendan Slattery)
By Brian Canty
Runner-up in the Bobby Power Memorial in Carrick-on-Suir, Conor Hennebry said he was reasonably happy with the result, despite being beaten in a two-man gallop by one of the fastest men in the country.
Hennebry (Aquablue) has a fine gallop of his own but Philip Lavery (Unattached) proved too strong in yesterday afternoon’s feature race contested over 124 kilometres.
“He sat on me from about a kilometre out which forced me to lead it out,” explained Hennebry.
“He jumped at 250 metres to go and I didn’t have enough to get back onto him and he beat me by half a bike length or so.
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Conor Hennebry, right, had no answer to Philip Lavery (Unattached) but still gave a very good account of himself. The Aquablue man said the winner sat on him inside the last kilometre and forced him to lead out the sprint. (Picture: Sean Rowe)
“He was going well and putting in good turns, he certainly wasn’t shying away from it,” he added.
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The race was run off at a furious pace with the combined A1 and A2 groups featuring many of the country’s best riders.
Indeed, with no event in Leinster, a very strong field contested matters and it proved a real war of attrition.
“It was tough; the road surface wasn’t the best and it was very fast,” continued Hennebry.
“Three or four moves looked like they’d get away but you’d turn around and it’d be all back together – the field was very strong.
Sean McKenna takes the sprint for 3rd place from Michael O'Loughlin just behind Lavery and Hennebry (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“Then a group went on the last lap on a draggy piece of road but that split and split again and eventually it came down to around seven riders.”
Hennebry and Lavery jumped away from that with around 10 kilometres to go.
And though a chase group formed behind, they never got back on terms with the two men flying up front.
Sean McKenna (Aquablue), Michael O’Loughlin (Team WIGGINS) and Darragh O’Mahony (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk) filled the minor places from third through fifth.
For full results of all races in Carrick click here.
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