Fighting Irish restore pride

THE bright orange of the Netherlands shone in the Meydan FEI Nations Cup at the Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show yesterday, but a superb comeback by the Irish, featuring clear rounds from Cian O’Connor and a pain-wracked Denis Lynch gave the crowd plenty to cheer about.

It ensured Ireland finished equal second and gave manager Robert Splaine reason to be upbeat.

“I’m very happy. I know I predicted we could win, but things did not go our way in the first round. The comeback was fantastic and the second round was what I had expected in the first. Perhaps the riders were spurred on by the president’s arrival,’’ he joked. He focused on the “courage’’ of Dermott Lennon in lining out just a week after a bad fall in Hickstead, the class of Billy Twomey, the reliability of Lynch as anchorman and the way O’Connor adapted to give his “fantastic’’ new horse a superb ride second time out. France had already won the Meydan Series title going into yesterday’s competition.