EAST DOWN COMBINE

Reports by Clifford Browne

2Bird members enjoy a good night at Magee's in Crossgar

Friday February 21st 2014 saw members and friends of the East Down Combine 2 bird club attending the Annual Dinner and prize night which once again was held in Magee’s Lounge in Crossgar. Again this year everyone was treated to a great evening which started off after grace was said and a welcome from club chairman Clifford Browne with a super 2 course meal and if you were wanting beef cooked to perfection I can highly recommend this meal which was supplied by Hilltop Catering. The chairman congratulated the prize winners and thanked everyone for their input throughout the season and reminded them of the AGM on the following Monday evening. He especially thanked Dorothy Smyth who had undertaken once again to organise this prize night and had put a lot of hard work into ensuring everyone had a very enjoyable night. The chairman then introduced the chief guest for the evening Crossgar’s Joe McGreevy who, when the meal was finished, was asked to present the prizes by the club’s assistant secretary Sam Duke. Dorothy Smyth was present with camera and took some great photos of all the prize winners. The trophy and prize winners were:

The League winners were:

LEAGUE A Gordon bros & sons 28 points

LEAGUE B S & K Duke 26 points

LEAGUE C R Moore & Son 30 points

LEAGUE D McCartan & Woodsides 30 points

LEAGUE E R & G Thompson 24 points

LEAGUE F F Gilmore 26 points

This means that the Gibson cup for the league winners was shared this year between McCartan & Woodsides (Crossgar the 2013 EDC Fanciers of the year  and R Moore & son (Bangor) with both lofts scoring 30 points.

Other trophy winners were:

OLD BIRD INLAND AVERAGE - McCartan & Woodsides

OLD BIRD SKIB CLASSIC - M Croskery

2nd TALBENNY - Mackey & Lockhart

PENZANCE CUP - R McDowell & son

ST. MALO CUP - S Brown & sons

CHANNEL AVERAGE - McCartan & Woodsides

OLD BIRD COMBINED AVG - McCartan & Woodsides

OLD BIRD KNOCKOUT - McCartan & Woodsides

OLD BIRD OF THE YEAR - M Croskery

1st SKIBBEREEN YB - F Gilmore

2nd SKIBBEREEN YB - S Regan

TALBENNY YB DERBY - K & B McConaghie & son

2nd Mt. CHARLES - B Young

COMBINED AVGS - K & B McConaghie & son

YB of THE YEAR - M Croskery

BEST AVG OB DERBY AND 2

YB DERBIES - S Brown & sons

YB AVERAGE - Gordon Bros & sons

The winner of the Benzing ETS system sponsored by Benzing and competed for from the 1st Skibbereen EB Derby race was the Annsborough partnership of D Croskery & son.

From the 5 bird Golden Ring event the result was

1st Gordon bros & sons

2nd B Young

3rd R & J Young

Once all the prizes had been presented the rest of the evening was taken up with chatting and dancing to music by Tommy and part way through Tommy’s programme the ballot was drawn. All in all another successful and enjoyable evening.

EDC 2 Bird AGM was held in Crossgar on Monday February 24th. The chairman opened the meeting by requesting a minute’s silence for those members who had died in the past year and e special mention was made of the club’s long serving president Jack McMillan who had died at the end of the 2013 racing season at the great age of 93. Apologies were then taken and the 2012 minutes read and passed. The chairman thanked the secretary Stephen Logan for his work during the racing season and also the assistant secretary Sam Duke who had completed the year as Stephen had stepped down as secretary after the racing season. He also thanked the treasurer Rab Hunter for all his hard work throughout 2013 which had ensured the smooth running of the club whose membership had risen to 93. He also thanked Dorothy Smyth for all her hard work in connection with the Dinner/Prize distribution which has now become an event not to miss. The prize winners were congratulated and it was hoped that 2014 would be as successful as 2013 and that the membership would continue to grow. The treasurer Rab Hunter presented the accounts which showed the club in a healthy financial state which is a very satisfactory state of affairs. The next item was the election of office bearers for 2014 and this saw a change from the previous year with the main positions being:

President Clifford Browne

Chairman Francis Gilmore

V/Chairman Colin Smyth

Secretary /Treasurer Mrs Dorothy Smyth

Asst Secretary Sam Duke

EDC Delegates D Smyth & A Lockhart

IHU Delegates C Smyth & A Lockhart

The very popular leagues will again be in operation for 2014 with the possibility of obtaining some sponsorship for these. All clubs within the Combine will be receiving membership forms for the 2014 season which will include rules for membership of the club and which secretary Dorothy Smyth will need returned by March 15th so as to compile the various League tables etc. Membership fees remain at £10 for the full season or £5 for Young Birds only. The dinner/prize distribution which is proving so successful has been arranged for the 2014 season for Friday Feb 20th 2015, with the AGM on the 23rd of February 2015.

Again for the 2014 season the club members will have the opportunity to take part in a golden ring event where members will nominate 5 rings of their own at a cost of £10 in total but nominations will only need to be placed with the 2 bird secretary on or before the 8th of August 2014 which gives members the chance to get their prospective entries well trained. This event will be held in conjunction with the last young bird club race.

In conclusion can I say on a personal note that I feel honoured to have been elected to the office of president following in the footsteps of one of the true gentlemen of our sport the late Jack McMillan. Jack was one of the founder members of the EDC 2 Bird club. It was he that set up the leagues and helped make it one of the largest clubs of its kind in Britain. Membership has been on the increase over the last couple of years and I would encourage all combine members who would like to compete with others on an equal footing i.e. 2 birds per week, to give some consideration to joining for 2014.

 

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Roy Irwin’s “Hatrick Girls” - This Dundonald Club members had 3 Combine winners in 2013, three blue hens (see photo) which between them won:

1st EDC 22nd open (North Section) INFC OB Skibbereen National

1st EDC 13th Open (North Section) INFC YB Skibbereen National

1st EDC 1st West Section 2nd Fermoy OB 5,218 birds competing

A very nice trio to grace any loft.

 

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Finally for this week I have another photo of Sean Milligan & dtr’s French pigeon Lady Jen, which I should have had with last week’s column but had a few technical problems getting the picture. What a super hen.

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