Mark English smashes Irish record in thriller with teen star McPhillips

The Longford youngster pushed English all the way

Mark English of Finn Valley AC, Donegal, right, dips for the line to win the Men's 800m, ahead of Cian McPhillips of Longford AC, left, who finished second, during day one of the Irish Life Health Elite Athlete Indoor Micro Meet at Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena at the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

It was the race that made it all worthwhile: a one-minute, 46-second exhibition from one star of Irish athletics and one potential great of the future.

Mark English and Cian McPhillips: nine years between them in age and, after four ferocious laps of racing at the Sport Ireland indoor arena in Abbotstown, just three hundredths of a second between them on the track. In the end, English hit the line in front by about the width of his adidas vest, his 1:46.10 smashing his previous Irish indoor 800m record of 1:46.82, which dated back to 2014.