Less than 24 hours after the Irish U18 team won the gold medal at the FEI European Championships at Riesenbeck in Germany, the Irish U21 team claimed the Silver medal at the championships with another brilliant performance.
The Irish Young Riders started the day in the gold medal position on a score of 4.61 after a flawless display on Thursday.
Tipperary's Tom Wachman and Obora's Laura gave Ireland the perfect start with a clear as first to go for Michael Blake's team in the final round. Clare's Coen Williams and Floris R Z kept all the fences standing as second to jump, but picked up three time penalties which would prove crucial at the finish.
Kilkenny's Tim Brennan and Diadema della Caccia finished with four faults, before Tyrone's Niamh McEvoy and the Austin Broderick-bred BP Rocket Man (ISH) jumped clear as last to go.
That left Ireland as silver medal winners on a final score of 7.61 and when Belgium completed the final round with three clears, they would take the gold medal with a score of 5.72, while Britain secured bronze on 24.05.
Three Irish riders are inside the top seven heading into Sunday's Young Rider Individual final, with McEvoy in fifth, just ahead of Wachman sixth and Tim Brennan in seventh, with less than one fence separating the top seven combinations.
On Thursday, the Irish U18 team of Sligo's Paddy Reape (Mr Rocky Blue (ISH), Tipperary’s Tabitha Kyle (BP Goodfellas (ISH), Tipperary’s Alice Wachman (Killarney) and Kilkenny’s Emily Moloney (Temple Alice (ISH), along with reserve rider Jack Kent, produced another foot-perfect display in the medal decider, with three clear rounds keeping them on a score of 6.99 to secure the European team gold medal.
The Netherlands claimed silver on 12.79 while Belgium grabbed the bronze medal on 20.60.
Moloney heads into Saturday’s Junior Individual final in the silver medal position, less than two penalties off the gold medal spot. Tabitha Kyle is n eighth position, while Alice Wachman is in 10th as just over one fence separates the top 10 riders in a very tight leaderboard.
