Slow time but O’Donoghue still a dash ahead of his rivals

KERRY sprinter Jer O’Donoghue got the new year off to a stylish start at the Nenagh Arena yesterday when he retained his Munster AAI 60m title in 6.93 secs.

“Maybe it was not as fast as I would have liked - I ran 6.76 last year - but it was good,” he said afterwards. “I had a niggle for a couple of weeks and it was a bit worrying. So I was looking to today’s race to see if it was OK, and it was.”

He has never lost a race in Nenagh and he arrived there yesterday in the colours of his new club, An Riocht, as raging-hot favourite. His nearest rival was his training partner, Alan Dunfort from Templemore, who took silver in 7.03 secs, with David Hynes (Menapians) third in 7.06.