DAY 2 - TUESDAY'S BLOG

Ben O'Connor (Ireland)

THE sun made a rare appearance here at Millstreet which served to mirror the atmosphere felt by the riders and supporters who were enjoying the excitement and competition of the festival of mounted games that is, the world team championships.

The U17 competition saw an Irish dominance taking hold on home soil as the sibling combination of Stevie and Leo Kiernan stood out as star performers on a very impressive and ever improving Irish team.

Under the experienced guise of team trainer, Mark Devitt, a former world and European champion, it only looks onwards and upwards for the home side. I’d like to take credit for some of the success of this young team as I trained four of the five members last year at the European championships in France. But, the real merit has to go to the Irish MGA committee and dedicated parents that have nurtured the sport in Ireland to grow its membership to be its largest and most competitive I’ve ever seen.

STRONG FRENCH CHALLENGE

A strong French presence was felt yesterday with monumental performances by both the French open and U17 sides who lie in second place after yesterday’s qualifying sessions. After I woke this morning and checked my phone I was hit by the devastating news that yet another terrorist attack has shook the French nation on the day of their celebration of ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’. My thoughts go out to the families and individuals affected.

The Open competition has seen the usual dominance of UK teams being divided in two as only two of the four British nations are sitting comfortably in the A final. Wales, despite being a very strong team on paper have been very disappointing in my eyes and are only sitting on the fringes of the A final and will need a strong performance to secure their place in the top final.

Sadly Northern Ireland who have a lot of talent in their ranks have been plagued by their usual lack of focus and control to see the chances of an A final slip through their grasp unless they have the performance of their lives today.

At the top of the rankings the English team have displayed their worrying combination of speed and consistence that always make them stern competition but when it comes to the final I think their lack of pure speed will be felt as the Irish, French and Sottish leave them in their rear view.

IRELAND ON THE UP

Now on to my team’s (Irish open team) performance, we are in my humble opinion, capable of some of the highest level games that has ever been seen at a world team championships - we cruise past the competition when we get a game right.

Unfortunately our stellar performance has been sprinkled by inconsistency but on a whole day two of qualifying has been a turnaround for us. A late surge in our first session of the day saw us narrow victors over the French and English. An impressive start to our second session of the day saw us taking 46 out of a possible 48 points in the first six games - only to be hit by an unfortunate elimination caused by an uncharacteristic mistake by three time European champion Alan Keoghan.

His pony Nessa took a slight detour into the welsh lane causing an obstruction and a loss of eight points. At the end of the day we are happy with how we are preforming and how our ponies are settling into competition.

This afternoon's first leg of the final will hopefully result with an overnight lead for both of our teams as we aim to step up to the challenge on home soil and crown Irish champions.

DAY 1 - MONDAY'S BLOG

Ben O'Connor (Ireland)

TENSIONS were high and excitement was building under the over cast sky here at the Green Glens Arena in Millstreet - as the competitors and supporters prepared for the games to begin.

Kicking off the day was the first junior session of the competition. Featuring the very promising Irish team that rose to the challenge and held off the challenge of a very impressive Australian team - who despite being on borrowed ponies, managed to score very well and take second.

Credit must go to the Irish Mounted Games Association (MGA) members who provided high quality ponies for the visiting teams to borrow. A special mention also has to go out to Eoin Reavey a member of the Irish junior team who I had the privilege of training at the European championships last year in France. He put on a stellar performance to aid Ireland gain a ten point cushion in their hopes to qualify for the A final on Friday.

The second heat of the juniors saw a battle of the Brits, as favourites England managed to edge out Wales and Scotland who all looked on form from what I managed to glimpse before I had to start preparing for my own session which followed.

GO TIME

As we (the open team) entered the ring our seemingly calm and collected riders were contrasted by our excited mounts. Our first game started with a cracking ride by the one and only, Alan Keoghan. All was looking well until one of our riders put the baton on the floor and started off a chain reaction of silly errors and unlucky mistakes by the team.

We decided to get all our mistakes out of the way before the A final on Friday and that is just what we did. Our own high standards show that a ‘bad’ session for us still leaves us in the running as we managed to hold on to third and a respectable 50 points - thanks to solid performance by reigning European Individual champion Jamie Reavey and a combination of the rest of us donning calmer heads.

An impressive German team helmed by reigning World Individual Champion Widu Moorman took the session with a combination of consistency and skill to give them a very healthy start to qualifying for the A final.

The final session of the day featured England, France and New Zealand testing each other out and as the dust settles after each race and I look up from my laptop the George’s cross of England appears to be crossing the line just ahead of a strong French charge.

Tipped as the competition favourites by our resident MGA pundit and respected trainer Colin Carson, New Zealand looked like the festivities of the Irish welcoming the night before had taken its toll and the rust has still to be shaken off.

As nerves settle and we ease into the competition you can expect a much stronger performance from the Irish here on home soil. Tomorrow will see us pitted against all our competition and we can really show what the Irish are made of.