Creeslough sisters earn podium places in Lurgan

Creeslough sisters Éabha and Tara Brennan were on he podium at the Ulster Region TRI Summer Tour on Saturday.

The Brennan girls have only recently registered with Show Jumping Ireland and are quickly making themselves known in the circuit.

At the Meadows Equestrian Centre in Lurgan, their podium places see them qualify to compete as part of the Ulster Team at the Interprovincial All-Ireland finals next month.

The Tour, which consisted of 10 shows in different venues throughout the Ulster region, saw high numbers of competitors, with points won at individual shows accumulated to determine the overall winners for each show jumping class.

For 15-year-old Tara Brennan competing in the 1.10/1.20m COH/Junior Rider Competition on her mare Carnone Annabelle, each leg of the tour involved a hotly contested speed round but it was the Creeslough girl who topped the leaderboard and finished in first place.

Her ounger sister Éabha (12), riding Laura Morrisey’s Millfields Killnascully, consistently jumped double clear in 138 80cm and 138 90cm classes, putting her in joint first place with a number of other competitors and leaving a nail-biting speed round at the final show to determine the overall winner.

Two speedy jump-offs at the final saw her finish up in second place overall in both the 80cm and 90cm classes with only a fraction of a second between her and the fastest time.

Cardonagh girl Alana Doherty claimed the first place position in the 80cm class and 3rd place in the 90cm class, while Burt’s Clodagh Callaghan finished seventh in the 80cm and eighth in the 90cm class.)