Gary Cranston goes through field for victory at wet and windy John Haldane Memorial

Gary Cranston was active in the breakaways at yesterday's John Haldane Memorial and took a great win from a small escape to open his 2014 account; seen here racing last year.

Gary Cranston has opened his account for 2014, taking a wet John Haldane Memorial race yesterday; the East Antrim Audi rider going clear in a breakaway on the Newry to Warrenpoint dual carriageway course.

And when the leaders split in the closing stages he was at the front again and closed out his opportunity in the sprint to the line.

The Newry Wheelers-promoted main event was open to A1 and A2 riders and was run on a handicapped basis, with the A2s enjoying a modest advantage from the line.

With six laps of the nine mile circuit to be negotiated and winds and rain battering the riders it seemed a foregone conclusion that a tough contest was in store.

A headwind at the start did not deter the strongest and most aggressive, with the most eager in the A1 group not waiting to catch the limit men as a bunch, opting instead to force the pace and try and make contact in a smaller group.

Eventual winner Cranston signalled his intent from the off and was among those active in the jumping off the front of the A1 group. Indeed, he managed to break clear and was one in a group of A1s to make contact with the A2s first. They quickly pressed on from there.

In the group that went through the A2s with Cranston were, among others, Des Woods of the promoting club, North Down’s Matt Blaney and Fergus Rooney of Phoenix CC.

Not deterred by being caught by those in the higher category, a number of A2 men also went clear with the group including John Taylor (Carn Wheelers), Stephen Hutchinson (Cookstown CT) and Tony Boyle (Slane Cycles).

As that group of leaders got down to business, a chase group with some strong men also formed just behind which included, among others, the North Pole duo of Marc Buchanan and Rory Devlin, Darren Lynas (West Down Wheelers) and Newry Wheelers man Gareth McCullough.

As the racing moved into the business end of the day it was Cranston, Woods and Taylor who proved strongest, pulling clear in a three-man move and putting daylight between themselves and the breakaway.

They survived to the finish with Cranston quickest in the dash to the line ahead of Woods and A2 man Taylor, in that order and with the chase group getting on terms just behind with the remainder of the original breakaway.

After the podium places were sorted, it was Devlin and Buchanan of North Pole who filled 4^th and 5^th slots with Gray in 6^th, Hutchinson in 7^th and McCullough in 8^th.

Related News

Lara Gillespie attacks Dolomite stage as Giro hits high mountains

Video - Ireland's Meehan climbs with best on brutal Alpine terrain

The A3 race saw a very large field enter and while they raced hard over five laps of the same course as the A1-A2 main event, it came down to a bunch sprint won by Karlo Taylor (Ballymena CRC) from Foyle CC's Lawrence Watson.

Angus Fyffe (Omagh Wheelers) rounded out the podium just ahead of Ciaran McVeigh (Phoenix CC) in 4th, James Wilson (Apollo CT) 5^th and Donal Byrnes (Strabane Lifford) 6^th.

The A4 race came down to an identical conclusion after four laps. The in-form David Donaghy romped in for the win, just one week after the Caldwell Cycles-Omagh man took victory from a small breakaway in the Phoenix GP.

Yesterday he bested Gary Donaldson (Omagh Wheelers) and Dermot Donaghy (Island Wheelers) for the win. Chris Coyle (Strabane Lifford) was 4^th, Sean Carey (North Down) 5^th and Peter Morrison (Northern Dave Kane) 6^th.

In the masters race North Down scored a 1-2 with Noel Boyce claiming victory from Ian Blayney. And in the Bling Bike Women's Series round 2, DID Racing Team's Amy Brice emerged the winner from North Down's Rachel Mitchell.