IRISH young rider Lucinda Roche and the Irish Sport Horse WCE Falco finished sixth overall following the final round at the FEI European Championships for Young Riders (U21) at Samorin in Slovakia.

The pair jumped a fantastic clear round in the first round of the final to move up to silver medal position. In the medal deciding round, Roche and WCE Falco were clear until the penultimate fence but the middle part of the combination and then final fence fell to the floor to leave them on a final score of 15.11 penalties.

Switzerland’s Bryan Balsiger took the gold medal, with Germany’s Justine Tebbel in silver and Britain’s Amy Inglis earning bronze.

Irish young rider, junior and children’s team manager James Kernan said: “Lucinda really performed brilliantly. It was a superb performance to finish sixth at a European Championships. She was unlucky not to win a medal and was looking good until the last two fences.

"Our GAIN sponsored teams did us proud. Our young rider team finished just a fence outside the medal places.

"We were under pressure from the start with our junior team when we were reduced to just three riders due to an injury, but they all rode extremely well – as did our children’s team. These Championships have been a great experience for all our riders and will stand to them in the future.

“I want to say a special thanks to our sponsors, GAIN, TRM, Dubarry, Horseware, Berney Bros, and Charles Owen, who gave us so much support. Also I want to thank all the owners for making their horses available for these Championships.”