Brennan is new cycling club champion

Ballymena Road Club - Chain Reaction held their club championship Race, the Sammy Connor Cup, on Wednesday, June 26.

This is a scratch race, meaning that there is no handicap, and all competitors start the race together.

More than 40 riders took their place on the start line, with everyone keen to wear the Club Champion jersey during the 2014 season.

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As the flag dropped, junior rider Connor Young was first to attack, but the move was quickly covered and the tone for the race was immediately set.

Lap one saw several short lived attacks from Tommy Wilson, Matthew Brennan, and another junior rider Ryan Shaw, but each and every time the move was closed down.

On lap two, the attacks continued with Chris Beattie and TommyWilson again to the fore, but no-one was able to gain a significant advantage until David Dougan kicked hard on the approach back into Broughshane, and was able to distance the bunch for three or four miles before he was chased down by the fast moving bunch.

The third and final lap began with all the big hitters still in the front group, and all bets were on a bunch gallop for the coveted ‘White Jersey’.

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However, Colin Scullion attacked three miles into the final lap and managed to open a gap of some 20 seconds.

Matthew Brennan countered the move and bridged across to Scullion.

The two riders worked together for a short time, then Brennan kicked again as the race headed for the turn towards home at the Sheddings.

By now Brennan had opened a gap of approximately 40 seconds to the main group, and despite the best efforts of the other riders, he powered home to take the win by some distance.

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Matthew had this to say after his victory: “This has been a disappointing season for me so far. My winter training didn’t go as planned and I came into the season under prepared.

“However, I have kept knocking on the door and I am delighted that I finally had good legs tonight.

“It will be great to wear the club champion’s jersey in 2014 and it will certainly be a big motivational factor to make sure I perform well next season.”

Club Championship Result

1st- M. Brennan; 2nd- S. Taggart; 3rd- R. Bankhead; 4th- C. Beattie; 5th- K. Taylor; 6Th- N. Millar; 7th- R. Currie; 8th- M. Carroll; 9th- B. Geddis; 10th- T. Wilson; 11th- A. Blair; 12th-J. Shaw; 13Th- R. Reid; 14Th- R. Shaw; 15Th- G. Graham; 16th- C. Grant; 17th-C. Scullion; 18th-C. Young; 19th- D. Dougan; 20Th- G. Reid; 21St- S. Smith; 22Nd- Claire Gillespie; 23Rd- Emma Smith; 24th- M. Ruddy; 25th- D. Kennedy; 26th-A. Kerr.

D.N.F – Q. Mcfall,T. Douds, M. Carruthers.

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Ballymena Road Club - Chain Reaction will host the Tommy Talbot Cup time trial on Wednesday, July 3 at 7pm.

Sign on will be from the Ecos center on the Broughshane Road from 6.30pm.

This is a unique ‘out and back’ time trial 42 miles long following the Broughshane - Carnlough - Waterfoot course.

The Wallace Caldwell Memorial road race is now scheduled to take place on July 27.

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The event is one of the premier races on the Cycling Ireland calendar and was cancelled earlier this season due to adverse weather conditions.

Ballymena Road Club are now waiting on clearance for the new date from the appropriate authorities, and hope to confirm the new date in the next few days.

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