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The European reversible ploughing contest took place over two days on Saturday and Sunday and crowned west Cork’s Jer Coakley as the overall champion with 457 points.
Using a Ford and Kverneland combination, Coakley won on both days, increasing his lead on Sunday.
He already won the European championship last year and came second in the Kverneland reversible test match at the last National Ploughing Championship.
In second place was the other Republic of Ireland contestant, Dan Donnelly from Co Wexford (pictured, left), on 434.5 points. Ploughing with a John Deere tractor and a Kverneland plough, Donnelly came third in the Kverneland reversible test match at last year’s National Ploughing Championships.
Northern Ireland ploughman James Coulter (pictured, right) came third with 408 points, on a Ford and Dowdeswell combination.
Jer, Dan and James beat reversible world champion Beat Sprenger, who came fourth on 400 points with a Same tractor and Kverneland plough.
They also maintained the rankings achieved at the European championship last year, when the two top spots went to the Republic’s contestants and third place to Northern Ireland.
The fourth contestant from this island, David Jamison of Northern Ireland (pictured), came sixth on 388 points with a John Deere and Kverneland combination.
The next big events in competitive ploughing are the National Ploughing Championships on 19-21 September in Screggan, Tullamore, Co Offaly and the World Ploughing Contest on 1 and 2 December in Kenya.
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