NUIG keep ahead of Garda

ROWING: As NUIG coach Tom Tuohy said afterwards, "it was not the ideal situation" for two ambitious Irish crews to clash on only the second day of Henley Royal Regatta, but Garda and NUIG served up a cracking race yesterday in the Britannia for coxed fours.

NUIG, who had beaten Garda at Athlone last month, repeated the dose yesterday - but only by one-third of a length. Garda fell behind early on, and as Kenny McDonald of the Garda crew put it, "their race plan seemed to be to get out ahead of us and hold on for dear life".

The winners duly did this, but though they opened a lead of a length and a half, Garda refused to give in, and raced hard to the end, gaining on their rivals but never managing to head them. McDonald said that his crew had hoped to win out in the Britannia, but now they fully supported NUIG's bid: "I hope they go on and win it now," he said, sportingly.

A number of other Irish crews also fell by the wayside, perhaps the most disappointed of all being Becky Quinn, who lost out by only two feet to Helen Mangan in the women's single scull, the Princess Royal. Quinn opened a lead of 2½ lengths at one point, but Mangan caught her right at the end as the Irishwoman seemed not to allow for the longer-than-standard course.

The hopes of the UCD eight in the Temple fell before the mighty Harvard, but Queen's made it through by beating another American crew, Orange Coast College, by 2½ lengths.

Coleraine exited the Princess Elizabeth for schools' eights to Monmouth College, and one of the big disappointments came late in the day when UCD's fancied quadruple scull lost out to Mercantile from Australia.

In the Wyfold for coxless fours, Lady Elizabeth, the "old boys" crew of Trinity, and Belfast were both beaten, leaving the redoubtable Galway Rowing club to carry the Irish banner after their admirable 1¾ length win over Nottingham.

And there were other Irish wins: Commercial scullers Neal and Owen Byrne beat Mike Edge and Osmond Warner in the double sculls, although the Dublin brothers know that even if they win again today they are likely to face world champions Akos Heller and Tibor Peto in tomorrow's semi-finals.

Another pair of world champions, Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell, drew the biggest attention at home for their impressive win in the Silver Goblets for coxless pairs, and they look on course to go all the way.

Perhaps Ireland's best hopes for glory come Sunday, Neptune's Thames Cup eight, had a three-length win over London B, which impressed coach Neville Maxwell even more than their 3¼ length win on Wednesday. "It was very, very good," said the experienced oarsman of his charges' display.