FLYING INTO THE NORTH WEST OF IRELAND
BILLY KNOX
The Best in the West in 2012
Alan Hall - Best in the West
I was just having a quick look over the results for the year, before consigning them to the rubbish bin. Sometimes when you look at the results from week to week, you don’t really see just how well some individual fanciers have done during the year. But, when you get a chance to see all the results at one time, only then can you see the truly outstanding performances some men put up over the entire season.
I have put together a bit of a table for the North West clubs, although given some of the sketchy results that were posted from time to time throughout the year, they might not be 100% accurate. If nothing else, it will get a bit of debate going, and perhaps a few amendments will have to be made.
Maybe when we have a look at the results, we can crown the winner the ‘Best in the West’. We will however to set out some criteria for this, which could be the actual number of wins by an individual flyer, or an individual’s Section performances. Or, maybe a combination of both, perhaps using some sort of points system. Only first positions will count, unless we have the unlikely event of a tie, when we would then look at other positions to decide the winner. So here we go then, in no particular order, as I just lifted the results as they came from the weekly club reports.
In the Maiden City,
Pat Mc Laughlin had 7 Wins, including 2 Sections and 1 Open win
In the Londonderry club
Noel Murray had 7 Wins
In the Derry and District
Anthony Mc Crudden had 5 Wins, including 1 Section
B + K Reid had 5 Wins
In the Limavady club
Ronnie Witherow had 18 Wins, including 2 Sections and a 2nd Open
In the Omagh club
Alan hall had 9 Wins, including 7 Sections and 1 Open win
In the Rock club
Eamon Quigley had 6 Wins, including 1 Section
Tommy White had 6 Wins also I think
In the Foyle Club
Sean Mc Grotty had 5 Wins, including 1 Section
In the Strabane club
Glenn Quinn had 6 Wins.
Pat Mc Laughlin - out on his own in the Maiden City
Glenn Quinn - top man in the Strabane club
Ronnie Witherow, a remarkable 18 wins in the Limavady club
Sean Mc Grotty - top flyer in the Foyle club
As I have explained at the start, these figures are as near as I could get, going by the weekly reports. As some clubs didn’t post weekly results on a regular basis, there may be an odd result missing. But as you can see, an odd win missing here or there will have no great bearing on things, as no one could catch the two men who stand out from the rest, namely Ronnie Witherow and Alan Hall. These two fanciers had truly remarkable seasons, clocking up twenty seven club wins and nine Section wins between them. Alan also adds an Open win to this tally. Outstanding flying from two of the North West’s top fanciers over the last number of seasons.
If it was down to club results alone, Ronnie Witherow would be head and shoulders above everybody else. But, when looking at the complete picture, I would have to say that Alan Hall would just shade things, taking into account his Section and Open positions. This is only my opinion however, but it would be interesting to see what everyone else thinks.
