Canty pairs best in tight finishes

Press, 31 January 1983, Page 3

Canty pairs best in tight finishes

Surprisingly in some cases, the South Island madison cycling championships at Denton Park yesterday went to all-Canterbury combinations. But only once — the open 100 km, where Murray Steele and Craig Adair, team-mates at the Brisbane Commonwealth Games, were triumphant — was the margin convincing.

The junior 50km was won by Darrel Kircher and Shayne Hendren, but by a mere two points from Craig Fenton and Dean Lovett, and Tim Clyne and Dean Harvey, two other Canterbury combinations.

The boys' 30km was almost just as keenly contested, Wayne Eyre and Andrew Macbeth blowing in the final two sprints yet hanging on to beat Ross Brimer and Brendan Kiesanowski by three points.

Steele and Adair set a scorching pace, though it was a little-fancied professional pair of Clayton Yaxley and Nigel Dent which sneaked a lap out of the field after half an hour. But that was picked up within the next 20min, and Adair and Steele steadily amassed a heap of sprint points.

Only Greg Fraine and Alan Miller, a ChristchurchBlenheim pairing, and the Canterbury pair of William Rastrick and Tony Strang, could stay close. But Steele and Adair launched a major offensive in the final halfhour and the race was well over.

It was also well over by then for one of the fancied teams, Brian Fowler and Steve Woods. Fowler crashed at halfway, and was unable to continue because of a back injury while Woods followed Adair in and out of the race — a concession allowed by the rules — he lost three laps. Then he ceased to follow the correct procedure and the team was withdrawn.

Kircher and Hendren, both first-month seniors, gave a splendid performance to head off their opposition, but the result was always in doubt. Fenton and Lovett snatched second from Clyne and Harvey because they had the better final sprint.

The surprising performance was that of Chris Jordan (Blenheim) and Darren Rush (Nelson), the former blowing and the team losing four laps. The Brimer attack in the ; final two sprints came just a I little late for he and

Kiesanowski to head off Macbeth and Eyre in the boys’ race. Results:— Open 100 km.— M. A. Steele and C. R. Adair, 76 points, 1: G. J. Fraine and A. Miller, one lap down, 32, 2; W. J. E. Rastrick and A. J. Strang, two laps down, 33, 3; J. Matthews (Nelson) and P. Coates, two laps down, 25, 4: C. D. Yaxley and N. Dent, two laps down, 3,5; A. J. O'Hagan and A. Ward, four laps down. 3, 6. Time. 2:23:59. Junior 50km.- D. Kircher and

S. R. Hendren, 29, 1; C. Fenton and D. B. Lovett, 27, 2; B. T. Clyne and D. P. Harvey, 27, 3; P. Gibbs.and G. M. Searle, three laps down, 17. 4: D. Rush and C. Jordan, four laps down, 17, 5; D. J. Kinzett and D. Collins, four laps down, 3, 6. Time. 1:11.26. Boys 30km.— A. Macbeth and W. Eyre, 38. 1: R. Brimer and B. Kiesanowski, 35, 2; A. Clarke (Invercargill) and J. Stokes. 20. 3; C. Williamson and J. Andrews. 15. 4: J. O’Brien and A. Girvin. 0. 5; P. Searle and B. Abernethy, one lap down, 6. Time, 43:54.