Desmond and Duncan deliver

Over 500 competitors from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales featured at the Home Internationals at the National Rowing Centre, Cork on Saturday-

And it proved a memorable day for the Irish with Emma Desmond and Niall Duncan winning the lightweight sculls.

Eimantas Grigalius claimed the men’s single scull title before Carlow duo Niall Murphy and Alan McKenna won the men’s pair by over a length to Scotland.

The men’s junior double of Shane Mulvaney and Fintan McCarthy completed the Irish successes — winning their event by two tenths of a second.

Scotland won the men’s and women’s senior matches and both men and women’s junior matches.

Meanwhile Skibbereen’s Paul O’Donovan finished fourth in the lightweight single sculls at the World U23 finals yesterday morning at Varese in Italy.

O’Donovan, who won a bronze medal in the event last year, came home behind Andrew Campbell (US), Enes Kusku (Turkey) and Francesco Pegoraro (Italy)

The men’s double scull of Gary O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll were fourth in the B final.