Judith Faherty

THE Irish show jumping squad recorded a ninth place finish in yesterday’s (Friday) Nations Cup at the five-star show in Sopot, Poland, where victory went to a strong Ukraine side.

A total of 15 teams lined out for the fifth leg of the European Division two league, where Mayo’s Jonathan Gordon (22) was making his senior team debut. Recording a team total of 10 faults in round one meant Ireland narrowly missed out on qualification for the second round, with just eight nations progressing.

Gordon was joined by an experienced trio of Cameron Hanley (Cas 2), Alexander Butler (Hallowberry Cruz (ISH)) and Darragh Kenny (Global Van T Braunerthof), all riding horses making their debut at Nations Cup level. Drawn last of the 15 teams, Hanley was first to line out in the green jacket and ended with just one pole on the ground for four faults.

Gordon followed and lowered one fence as well as exceeding the 75 seconds time allowed to pick up a single time fault, finishing on a total of five faults. Next to line out was Alexander Butler, with the striking 10-year-old grey stallion Hallowberry Cruz (ISH), Butler recorded a superb clear jumping round but was unlucky to pick up a single time fault.

Last to jump for Ireland was Darragh Kenny with his new mount Global Van T Braunerthof. The 10-year old gelding, campaigned by Irish rider David Simpson as a youngster, finished on a total of eight faults to count as the discard score.

Conditions at the Polish venue were testing with strong winds and heavy rain. At the halfway stage, Ukraine and Austria shared the lead with zero faults while Australia were hot on their heels with just two faults. The Ukrainians pulled clear in the second round to win with a total of four faults. Austria held on for second place (nine faults) and Belgium were third (12 faults).