World champions Richhill started their competitive season with victory in the Northern Ireland 680 Tug-of-war Championship at Goodyear Sports and Social Club on Saturday.
Under new coach, Sam Rountree, himself a very experienced puller with two world gold medals, knew the difficulty of the task ahead as any one of a number of teams were capable of winning this championship.
Six teams entered this weight including three local clubs, Richhill, Leo’s Boys and Ballyhegan.
The four teams to reach the semi-final stage of the competition were Richhill A, Richhill B, Country Club and Ballyhegan.
In the first semi Ballyhegan were too strong for Richhill B, winning 2-0 to reach the final.
In the second semi-final Country Club and Richhill A were both determined to reach the final. It was a hard fought contest with Richhill A proving too strong for their opponents, winning 2-0 to reach the final.
In the final Ballyhegan went in hard against Richhill, using their strength but Richhill A managed to hold firm against repeated attacking moves.
This spirited performance resulted in Richhill claiming the first spoils.
The second pull followed a similar pattern to the first test as Richhill wrapped up victory in front of the large crowd.
Next week the teams travel to Enniskillen to compete in the Northern Ireland 640 kilo weight.
