RAYMOND CLARKE of the Premier club in Clonmel completed a weekend double success yesterday when he followed up Saturday's win over a 58 miles Co Meath course at Batterstown with victory in the Noel Hammond memorial race over seven laps of a 12 mile north Co Dublin circuit at Ballyboughal.
On Saturday Clarke forged ahead near the finish and won by 16 seconds but yesterday he was best in the sprint to the line from a leading group of 11.
There were 108 starters for the Orwell Wheelers promotion and the breakaway attempts came fast and furious. After Joe Barr led through at the end of the third lap from Karl Donnelly with a group of 30 in pursuit, Donnelly went ahead on his own and built up a lead of a minute and 10 seconds but he suffered a front wheel puncture.
Donnelly changed the wheel but at the end of lap five his advantage had dwindled to 18 seconds on five chasers with the next group of 24 at a minute.
Donnelly was joined at the front by Anthony Doyle, Denis Easton, Derry McVeigh, Brendan Doherty and Mark Lyttle and, in heavy rain, they went out on the last lap with what seemed a convincing lead. However, with just over a mile to go Clarke came up with David Hourigan, Paddy Moriarty, Shane Baker and Richard Cahill.
Clarke surged ahead approaching the final corner and led into the 200 yards finishing stretch and although challenged strongly by Doyle and Hourigan in the uphill sprint, Clarke held on to add his name to the trophy. Clarke, who rides with the Tipperary team in the Ras next month, takes over the lead in the classic league. In the juniors race Mark Scanlon from Sligo had another impressive win and he is also the new leader of the junior league.
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