FORUMRALLY

Leader Board after stage 14 1 Eamonn Boland Damien Morrissey Subaru Impreza S12B A8 2:18:55.1 2 Gareth MacHale Craig Parry Ford Focus A8 2:19:21.3 3 Tim McNulty Eugene O'Donnell Subaru Impreza S12B A8 2:20:13.7 4 Aaron MacHale Killian Duffy Ford Focus WRC A8 2:23:23.6 5 John McGlaughlin Crawford Henderson Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 N4 2:29:52.4

Despite a last minute drama which saw the two leading cars starting the final stage separated by just four seconds, the Wexford-Waterford combination of Eamonn Boland and Damien Morrissey put on a final spurt to hold off the late challenge of Dubliner Gareth MacHale and his British co-driver Craig Parry to win the Circuit of Ireland International Rally by one of the narrowest margins ever, 4.9 seconds after more than three hours of high speed special stages spread over three days. The pair from the south-east led for most of the rally, setting out in the NVD Subaru Impreza for Sunday's six stages in Co Down with a lead of 26 seconds over their rivals' White Oak Ford Focus. An overshoot for MacHale on the day's third stage cost him 10 seconds, leaving him a daunting 35 behind as they set off for the last loop, in a seemingly hopeless position. However, Boland struck trouble on the second run through Knockiveagh, outside Banbridge, when his screen washers failed and he had visibility problems. MacHale was on a charge and clawed back 21 seconds, followed by another 10 on the penultimate test at Legananny, leaving everything to play for over the last nine miles of Slieve Roosley, near Rostrevor. Boland returned to full concentration and added nine tenths of a second to his narrow lead, achieving a special ambition by winning Ireland's oldest International Rally - the first driver from the Republic to win the event since Austin MacHale, Gareth's father, ten years ago. Tim McNulty from Summerhill in the Pierse Impreza and Aaron MacHale's Maxol Focus completed a clean sweep of the top four places for southern drivers, with the elder of the two brothers struggling through the day with gearbox problems which cost him four minutes on one stage. John McGlaughlin and Brendan Cumiskey took the top places in the Group N Production class in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evos, while Clonakilty driver Kevin Kelleher was very fortunate to limp home in third place with serious transmission problems on the final stages.