Ulster Póc Fada 2008

The 2008 Ulster Póc Fada took place on Saturday 7th June on a tough course over the Sperrin Mountains near Slaughtneil in County Derry.

The event was held on a fine sunny day, which helped to keep the spirits up despite the effort required to reach the summit of the course. This is the third year that the event has been held at Carn Togher and without doubt it was the best supported.

The Hurling competition included three different categories including Senior, a Veterans section for stars of yesteryear aged 40 and over and a section for our future stars at Under 16. As part of Ulster’s continuing integration process the Ulster Camogie Association were invited to participate and they also competed in three sections.

The Senior Hurling event was intriguing with Graham Clarke putting his title on the line once more for all comers to challenge him. Competitors came from throughout Ulster with eight of the nine counties represented.

Ruairi Convery, Derry’s long range scoring ace and Jason Mc Manus from Fermanagh certainly rose to the challenge and pushed Clarke all the way as they slugged it out blow for blow over a punishing course.

In the end the Down goalkeeper saw off his rivals to win yet another Ulster title with a winning margin of 2 shots over Convery and 3 over Mc Manus.

The Veteran’s competition was won by Donegal’s Ray Durack who had a narrow victory over Ali Mc Alastair.

In another close contest Derry’s Christopher Convery, younger brother of Senior runner-up Ruairi, won the Under 16 competition with a score of 52.