James Nolan savoured the moment when he got first run on his Ireland team-mate Mark Carroll to settle an old debt in the national 800 metres indoor championship at Nenagh yesterday.

Nine days ago Carroll had left the UCD athlete hopelessly stranded when he kicked on the second to last lap to open up a decisive lead in the Wannamaker mile in Madison Square Garden.

Now, in the more modest setting of the Nenagh arena, the roles were starkly reversed as the pair gathered for the charge with just 250 metres left.

Paul Campbell, who had run bravely and with sufficient determination to deny Nolan the inside lane when the latter sought to muscle past him on an earlier lap, had no more to give at that point, reluctantly conceding the stage to his more experienced rivals.

Nolan didn't need a second invitation after a gap had suddenly opened to him and with Carroll trapped at the back of the five-man pack, it was all over in a matter of strides. Too late, the Cork man switched to get a clear run on the outside but even then, the differential closed only fractionally, if at all. The time was a disappointing one minute, 54.91.

That Nolan would win over his specialist distance was always in prospect. Less predictable by far was the manner of Carroll's tame capitulation and clearly it surprised the winner as much as anybody.

"As the power athlete, Mark would normally have been expected to take it out and to that extent I was surprised to see him run at the back in the early stages," he said. "Now I'm off to Stockholm for a 1500 metres race on Thursday and that will be my last before the European championships."

Carroll was philosophical in defeat: "The purpose of the exercise for me was to sharpen up for Ghent," he said. "I know I'm in good shape and I too will have one more race before the Europeans. But I'm not running at Birmingham next Sunday. It would be foolish to screw up on the European championships for the sake of a record which may or may not happen."

With the imminent announcement of the European squad attracting some of the bigger name athletes to Nenagh, it was, by some way, the best indoor programme ever presented in this country, with the emphasis on the priorities of championship competition.

Yet, it still produced four meeting records in addition to a new national best of 12 minutes 28.97 seconds for Gillian O'Sullivan in the 3000 metres walk. That was the measure of the quality on offer and nowhere was it more pronounced than in the women's 400 metres in which Karen Shinkins produced a fine win in 53.50 seconds.

Donal McCarthy of Leevale confirmed his recent rate of improvement with a championship best of 6.84 seconds in the 60 metres dash and Brendan Reilly finally prevailed in a high jump competition of absorbing intensity when going clear at 2.24 metres.

Gareth Turnbull achieved a fifth consecutive win in shaking off the abrasive challenge of Cork's Ken Nason in the 1500 metres and in the women's 800 metres there was a welcome return to form for the experienced Sinead Delahunty.

Delahunty, home on a short break from the US, appeared to be in some trouble when Maria Lynch accelerated past her on the last lap. Not daunted, the Kilkenny athlete renewed her challenge at the entrance to the finishing straight to win in two minutes 9.93 seconds.

There was rich merit, too, in Ciara Sheehy's fluent sprint double and Niamh Beirne gave substance to an expanding reputation with an emphatic victory in the 3000 metres in nine minutes 57.46 seconds.

Gary Ryan was marked absent from the final of the men's 200 metres championship and Tom Comyns of Limerick took full advantage of his absence. He held off the two Dubliners, Robert Daly and Darren Hough, in a tight finish.