WHILE the sole discipline of golf on one property, Royal Portrush in Co Antrim, was the focus of attention among most sports fans in Northern Ireland last weekend, things were a lot more complicated for the organisers (the North Down Branch), competitors and supporters involved in the Area 17 Tetrathlon in Co Down.

The swim and shooting phases were held on Saturday morning at the Ards Leisure Centre in Newtownards after which the action moved on to the run which was staged at the Lagan family’s nearby Florida Manor Estate. From there, most headed straight down to Hazeldene Farm, Ballynahinch – not just because that was where the ride phase was to take place on Sunday but it was also the venue for Saturday night’s Wild West-themed party.

With older members of both Area 17 of The Pony Club and the Irish Pony Club focussing their attention on the upcoming JCB Pony Club championships in England and the senior regional home international Tetrathlon in Scotland, there was a disappointing turn-out for the weekend’s higher graded competitions.

Looking first at the team results in the Scrabo challenge between Area 17 and the IPC, the latter group’s trio of Duhallow’s Edward Healy, Waterford’s Darragh Walsh and Golden Vale’s Sean Maher were the sole starters in the Equimech Open boys’ team competition. There was no girls’ event at Open level nor was there at Intermediate level for either boys or girls.

Well-known for showing top quality young horses in hand, Comber estate agent Tim Martin sponsored the Junior level competitions. Here, the IPC’s Jack Hargaden (Carlow), Patrick Purcell (Golden Vale), Max Doran (Killinick) and Golden Vale’s Breandán Purcell were the only starters in the boys’ competition.

In contrast, eight teams contested the girls’ Scrabo challenge where the honours, on 13,180 points, went to the Area 17 A quartet of Una McClelland (Iveagh), Annabel McKeown (Killultagh), Tori Lilly (Fermanagh) and Maeve Rolston McAuliffe (Fermanagh). The IPC’s No 1 team finished second (12,715) followed by No 2 (12,708).

The IPC bounced back to dominate the Henry Brothers Minimus Scrabo challenge, winning through the No 1 team of Ruth Cregan (Co Limerick), Archie McCartan (Co Limerick), Jamie Cronin (Duhallow) and Olivia Roche (Duhallow) who amassed 13,334 points. The IPC’s Team 3 and Team 2 finished second and third respectively on 12,969 and 12,865.

Individuals

The individual Scrabo winners were the Iveaghs’ Harry Purdy (4,047 in the Open boys’ competition), Wicklow’s Tianne Kelly (4,075 Open girls), Carlow’s Jack Hargaden (4,175 Junior boys), Killultagh’s Annabel McKeown (4,539 in Junior girls) and Co Limerick’s Archie McCartan (4,468 in the Minimus).

Naturally, as it was their championships, Area 17 also ran their own dedicated competitions where the team wins went to Fermanagh’s Tori Lilly, Chloe Cathcart, Maeve Roltson-McAuliffe and Emily Bothwell (12,298 in the Junior girls) and a Fermanagh/Tullylagan trio (Tori Veitch, Maia Rolston-McAuliffe and Kathryn Walker) who amassed 11,956 points in the Minimus.

The individual titles were won by Iveagh’s Harry Purdy (Open boys), Iveagh’s Andrew Wishart (Intermediate boys), Killiltagh’s Emma Stewart (Intermediate girls), Iveagh’s Ted Geary (Junior boys), Killultagh’s Annabel McKeown (Junior girls) and Fermanagh’s Tori Veitvh (Minimus).

There were also non-Scrabo team and individual competitions for Tadpoles and Beanies plus four triathlon competitions.