Dunlop Fights Back
Road Race 2 on 1995
After finishing sixth last week, William Dunlop made it clear that he is not going to give up his league title in the second Dunlop Kitchens Road Race league event last Thursday evening.
In all there were 14 starters in the cycling event with four men set off in the limited group which contained Sean Canning, Robert Phair, Willie Lyons and Mourne Wheelers rider Clive Caldwell. These four riders were given four minutes on the second group which consisted of Jim MacAuley, William Martin, Joe Cleary, Wesley Foster and visit Colin Boyle (Mourne Wheelers) and also added were Eddie Carson and Frankie Flynn. On the road to Blaney the limited group lost Phair and at the same time had lost one minute on the chasers.
The scratch men of William Dunlop, older brother Kenny and Raymond Pauley were started one minute behind the middle markers and were closing the gap down well. With only one mile to go to Blaney, the scratch men had caught the second group and all 10 set out to reel-in the front markers. At Wheathill the gap between the two groups was now down to one minute and 40 seconds and at Derrygonnelly it was cut by another 20 seconds.
As the race progressed back towards Enniskillen on the Monea Road, the now enlarged group had the three men in sight and at Monea the gap was now down to forty seconds, but shortly after Flynn started to lose touch at the back of the chasers. It now looked like the race was over for the limited riders, but they held out as long as possible, and were finally caught coming to Springfield. On the climb towards Enniskillen after Springfield, the pace was now starting to tell as Canning was the next rider to drop, followed by Lyons.
The pace was being set by Pauley, Martin and the two Dunlop brothers, and on the five mile circuit MacAuley was the next rider to feel the pace, and with the race back on the Derrygonnelly Road, Cleary and Foster were then the next to feel the pace hot-up.
On the run-in to the finish line William Dunlop led out for the sprint and won from his older brother, with Caldwell (Mourne) third. Keeping close at hand was Pauley and Martin. The next two riders in are Carson, who won last week's race and Boyle (Mourne).
Results
| Pos | Cyclist | Club | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Dunlop | LCC | 1:13:25 |
| 2 | Kenny Dunlop | LCC | 1:13:26 |
| 3 | Clive Caldwell | Mourne Wheelers | |
| 4 | Raymond Pauley | LCC | |
| 5 | Willie Martin | LCC | |
| 6 | Eddie Carson | LCC | |
| 7 | Colin Boyle | Mourne Wheelers | |
| 8 | Wesley Foster | LCC | |
| 9 | Joe Cleary | LCC | |
| 10 | Jim MacAuley | LCC | |
| 11 | William Lyons | LCC | |
| 12 | Frankie Flynn | LCC | |
| ? | Sean Canning | LCC | |
| ? | Robert Phair | LCC |