from Jeremy Clonliffe Harriers men’s track and field team made their long awaited European debut in Sunday’s European Champion Club’s Cup in Dubnica, Slovakia. It was a great experience for the squad and despite meeting their expectations of finishing 5th overall there was still a sense of ‘what might have been’. For long periods Clonliffe were locked in a three way battle for 3rd place with Dutch champions Phanos Amdsterdam and Berne of Switzerland but a series of very unlucky events saw Clonliffe score zero in two events and lose touch.
In the early exchanges Clonliffe were fairing very well and at the halfway stage were lying in 3rd place. With the fulltime club Fenerbache from Turkey and multiple French champions CA Montreuil battling for the lead it was looking like Clonliffe may pull off a major surprise on their European debut and take 3rd. However, a cruel injury to John Laffey in the 200m while leading and a dropped baton by the 4 x 100m team meant zero points in these events and in the competitive nature of the event there was no room for such luxury.
Laffey had earlier ran excellently to finish 2nd in the 400m beating several 46 second men in the process and Conor Healy had battled to 2nd in the 800m. Mark Kenneally also got a 2nd when having to contend with an Olympic finalist in Selim Bayrak and Bayrak was an example of the calibre of athlete the Clonliffe men were up against. 3rd places were secured by Jeremy Lyons in the 400m H and David Flynn in the 3000m steeple while Aidan Bailey (1500m), Marcin Klinkosz (High Jump), Marco Mattiuzzo (Triple Jump) and the 4 x 400m relay team all chipped in with 4th places.
But it was all team members who made the performance so successful where 5th, 6th and 7th were battled for and crucial in ensuring Clonliffe stayed as far up the points table as possible. In the end the team effort was rewarded and despite the no score in two events the team finished 4 points clear of the Bosnians to claim 5th. It was a richly rewarding trip for all the team and with the domestic league commencing in a little over a week the appetite has certainly being whetted and there is a resolve now within the squad to retain their domestic title and again represent Ireland on the biggest club stage in Europe.