CIAN O’CONNOR LED Ireland’s showjumpers to a dramatic win in Ocala, Florida on Saturday night in the second leg of the Longines League of Nations.
With no margin for error, O’Connor jumped a clear round on Maurice to seal Ireland’s victory ahead of Switzerland and the United States of America.
Ireland finished as runners-up at the opening League of Nations leg in Abu Dhabi in February, and continued that impressive form in Saturday’s first round as Darragh Kenny (Amsterdam), Daniel Coyle (Legacy) and Shane Sweetnam (Otis Blue) all delivered clear rounds.
That left Ireland in second place overall and set up a tense second round, with leaders USA and third-placed Netherlands also on zero penalties.
Ireland takes Ocala by storm!⛈️
— Longines League of Nations (@LonginesNations) March 24, 2024
Team Ireland were crowned the victors at leg two of the @LonginesNations today as the sky opened up and rained on the winners parade, but nothing could dampen their spirit.
🥇Ireland🇮🇪
🥈Switzerland🇨🇭
🥉USA🇺🇸#LLN @Longines @LonginesEq pic.twitter.com/u4u2PG8T3w
After Kenny and Amsterdam finished with four faults, and Coyle and Legacy jumped another clear round, it fell to O’Connor — who sat out the opening round — to seal Ireland’s victory with a clear round and just one time penalty, for a final score of five points.
Switzerland finished second with eight points, while the USA (12 points) edged third place ahead of the Netherlands with less than a second between the teams on time.
“Unbelievable, obviously,” Ireland’s chef d’equipe Michael Blake said afterwards. “I am very, very pleased. To win here was fantastic.
“After we were level pegging here at half time, we went upstairs and we had a little chat, and we said we’ve been here many times and we’ve managed not to get the job done – I don’t want this to happen tonight.’”
Saturday night’s win moves Ireland into first place in the overall League of Nations standings on 190 points, 30 clear of Germany in second place.
The competition continues in June with the next two legs in St Gallen and Rotterdam, before the final in Barcelona in October.
