Skelton’s pit stop sees Irish lose fizz
The veteran rider said that when he thought his team were out of contention after the first round, he “ducked upstairs to the bar for a pint of Bulmers” .
It obviously had the right effect, because after his team fought back to tie with Ireland at the end of two rounds, Skelton went on to produce a superlative clear round on the gelding Carlo 273, which proved too good for Ireland’s Billy Twomey and Tinka’s Serenade.
“Today was very special. To go into a jump-off against Ireland on their home soil is very exciting and the main thing is to please the crowd, which I think we did,” said Skelton, who returned to the sport after breaking his neck a number of years ago in a fall.
Twomey was quick to shoulder the responsibility.
“I am very disappointed. We knew Nick would be fast and it was more individual mistakes on my part,” said the Corkman, who highlighted the importance of the fans. “The crowd were phenomenal. They were totally behind us, but also behind the other nations. You don’t get that at other competitions.”
Another stepping up to the plate was Denis Lynch, who, like Twomey, could have given Ireland their first win in seven years, but for a single error in the second round.
“Personally, I am very disappointed with my performance in both rounds. It is very unusual for All Inclusive to have a foot in the water and I could have wrapped it up,” said the German-based Tipperary rider.
New kid on the block, Nichola FitzGibbon, was delighted with her second-round: “It was amazing to go clear, I was a little bit emotional... and it is a privilege to line out with such great riders,” the Kildare woman going on to reveal she is on the long-list for next month’s European Championships, and looks forward to being on the short list.
Manager Robert Splaine also focused on the positives.
“To be second is always good when you are among the eight best nations in the world,” said the Corkman.
Despite their second place performance, Ireland slipped to fourth on the FEI Nations Cup League on 39.5 points but with one round remaining they are still in with a very slim chance of winning the series in the last round in Rotterdam, though also out of the danger zone in terms of relegation.
The Dutch remain at the top on 44 points, despite a disappointing display yesterday, while Britain and Germany share second place on 40pts.
Ireland’s bid for glory got off to the perfect start courtesy of another Corkman, Shane Sweetnam, who ensured his first Dublin Nations Cup was memorable with a clean sheet on the reliable Amaretto D’Arco.
Fellow debutante FitzGibbon belied her 23 years to end on four faults after Puissance tipped off the top of the planks. Lynch found the combination not to his liking, picking up four faults and crossing the line with a single time fault on the clock.
Twomey and the 14-year-old chestnut mare were the obvious choice as the anchor combination and demonstrated as such with Ireland’s second clear round to leave the team nicely placed in second place at the halfway stage.
The reason they did not lead proceedings, was due to a champagne performance from the French that saw them on a zero tally.
But neither country could be complacent, with three nations on scores of eight, Britain, Germany and Belgium.
Ireland continued in round two where they had left off, with US-based Kanturk rider Sweetnam producing one of only three double clear rounds in the competition with his 11-year-old stallion. Ireland’s third clear in a row followed, with FitzGibbon and Puissance.
The British, however, were not ready to give up and Skelton and Michael Whitaker (Gig Amai) replied.
With Ireland needing just one more clear, the wise money was on the experienced Lynch and Twomey to deliver. The former splashed out at the water and after Robert Smith went clear for Britain, Twomey’s Tinka’s Serenade crashed through fence five, setting up a head-to-head with Britain over an altered course and, crucially, against the clock.
Having jumped a blemish-free two rounds, Skelton adopted a forward pose and attacked the course to come out on top, with a clear in the fast time of 39.98 seconds.
Twomey re-entered the arena as the Irish standard bearer but hopes of a famous success were ended when he lowered the second fence to groans from the crowd as the British celebrated their 25th Aga Khan success.
The Irish disappointment will be quickly dispelled, however, by the recognition that this was a good performance and Splaine and his team will go to the European Championships in Madrid next month with confidence justifiably high.
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