After a successful campaign over round 1 and round 2, the combined Bandon A.C and Abbey Striders team of Bandon Striders had qualified for the final of the First Division in the National League.
An early start on Sunday morning saw a number of sleepy heads on the bus as it departed Kellehers at 7am on the way to Tullamore for the final of the National League. A couple of stops along the way to pick up some more troops for the battle ahead resulted in a strong Men team with no late withdrawal or injuries arriving in Tullamore in plenty time to put up the club tent which functioned as team HQ for the day!
The action got underway at 11.30 with first up being Abbey Striders Saran Malangaslashthira who contested the 110m Hurdles placing 5th and then Saran was straight over to the Pole Vault where he finished 3rd. Patrick McSweeney placed 4th in the Hammer and Promise Okafor placed 3rd in the Long Jump while on the track Abbey Striders Damien Hickey placed 4th in the 400m Hurdles. Team events like the National League can so easily be defined by one event and when the 4x100m relay team (Scott Gibson, Daniel Hathaway, Matthew Draper, Joey Henchy) failed to get the baton around it could have set the tone for the day, but the team put it behind them and remained focused. A truly battling performance from Ronan Duggan in the 1500m resulted in a 4th place finish. Scott Gibson ran a commanding race in the 400m to record the first win on the day for the club, and shortly afterwards Patrick McSweeney placed 2nd in the Shot Putt and Shane Howard placed 2nd in the High Jump and suddenly the points total was climbing. Momentum continued with Colin Kingston placing 2nd in the Discus and Promise Okafor placing 3rd in the Triple Jump. On the track Ronan Duggan contested the Steeple Chase and placed 8th and Danny Allen placed 5th in the 200m. Thomas McCarthy placed 4th in the 800m and then jumped straight into the 5,000m where he battled bravely and finished in 8th placed. Joey Henchy placed 4th in the 100m. A very tight battle in the Javelin saw the lead swap a few times and ended with Bobby Smith placing 2nd. The 56lb Weight Throw saw Colin Kingston contest the event for the first time and finished 5th. Rough calculations being done had Bandon Striders being in strong contention for a medal placing heading into the final event, the 4x400m relay.
With a strong team on paper some nerves were present after the events of the earlier relay. On the first leg for Bandon Striders was Scott Gibson who quickly recovered from a bad start and put the team in the lead at the first change over, Daniel Hathaway and Damien Hickey held the lead and so it was left to Danny Allen on the final leg to bring the baton home and to rousing cheers from the rest of the team and supporters he crossed the line first to record a great win.
There was a few anxious minutes when the officials checked all the figures and when the presentations were made Bandon Striders were announced as 3rd place in the First Division and while there was some slight disappointment among some of the team that the placing wasn’t higher the Bronze medals were gratefully accepted and reflected a massive achievement for a very young team. They will be back next year stronger and hungrier. The team just missed out on 2nd by a mere 3 points and were just 8 points away from 1st.
A happy bus headed back to Bandon and with just few stops along the way, but as the saying goes, what going on tour stays on tour!