Donagh Kelly claimed victory on Saturday on the Samdec Security Services Lakeland Stages Rally, but it was Enniskillen Motor Club who were the real winners on the club’s 50th anniversary.

After having to cancel the event last year due to lack of entries, the club performed a remarkable turnaround to host an event that drew plaudits from competitors and spectators alike. An entry in excess of 80 cars packed with top quality drivers and state of the art rally cars left the start in Enniskillen on Saturday morning to tackle eight stages that have been synonymous with the event over the years – Big Dog, Ballintempo, Carrigan and Belmore. Marc Johnston claimed the honour of first Fermanagh driver home, taking eleventh overall and third in group N, while Declan Campbell won class 5 and Raymond Johnston topped the historic class.

Josh Moffatt in his Group N Mitsubishi was the early pace setter as he covered the four miles of the Carrigans stage a second faster than Kelly in his WRC Mini, with Frank Kelly taking an early lead in the two wheel drive section. Donagh Kelly was driving an unfamiliar car and had not competed in a forestry rally for three years, but he was still very much in contention as he swapped the lead with Josh Moffatt throughout the day.

Johnny Leonard and his mechanics had worked tirelessly the night before the rally to get the engine of his Mitsubishi really for action, but his event came to an abrupt end when he slid off the road and into a river as the crossed the finish line of stage one.

The rally was claiming a significant number of victims and Frank Kelly was another high profile casualty as he got his Escort beached on the inside of a right hander, handing the two wheel drive honours to Adrian Hetherington. Local crews who would not see the finish of their home rally included Gerry Farmer, Brice Hetherington, Paul McShea and Nigel Hodgins, but other locals were making their presence felt in class battles throughout the field.

Mervyn Wilson took third in class three in his Escort, while Letterbreen’s Dominic Leonard pushed Conor Kelly all the way in class four before having to settle for second. Declan Campbell took a thrilling victory in class five by the narrowest of margins. The Trillick driver was 30 seconds behind class leader Malachy Loughran with just two stages remaining, but he mounted a huge attack on the long Ballintempo stage to reduce the gap by 23 seconds, and took a further eight seconds on the final stage to snatch the class win by one second. In class six Enniskillen’s Damian McGauran took a comfortable second place.

At the head of the time sheets the battle for the outright victory was in doubt right until the final stage. At the halfway service the Gerry McGarrity prepared Mitsubishi of Josh Moffatt headed Kelly’s Mini by two seconds, and Moffatt extended his lead by three seconds on each of the next two stages to lead by eight seconds with two stages remaining. Kelly hit back with a great time on the eleven miles of the penultimate stage, leaving one second between the pair with one stage remaining. Unfortunately the battle was cut short on the final stage when Moffatt retired with mechanical problems, handing the rally victory to Donagh Kelly.