Due to a significant number of people missing the deadline for joining the Orwell League, the league committee have decided to accept new applications until May 9th.

After last week's prologue, the bunches got into some fast and furious crit racing this week, with separate nights for the Limit and Scratch groups. John Blennerhassett emerged triumphant from the winning break on Wednesday, while Valdis Andersons once again displayed his dominance on Thursday.

Registration for the 2016 Orwell League will close at the end of February, so make sure you get your entries in before then. To whet your appetite for a bit of racing, we're finally publishing a round-up on last year's league, as well a report on the last round, won by Stephen Barry, with Colin Caesar hot on his heels.

The first of two Sallygap finishes ran over a tougher than usual circuit, and produced one worthy winner in the shape of Diarmuid Collins. All the action below!

Aideen Keenan notched up her most dominant win yet, soloing to victory in Clonmel at the weekend, ahead of the bunch gallop, which was taken by a flying Rachael Kaye-Mellor. Keenan followed that up with a tight second in Corkagh Park, which was also the scene of Helen Horan's début win from the B group! And last Thursday Conor Murnane pipped Arek Pierozynski for an excellent win R18 of the league on Dorey's Forge. Some men also raced in the Suir Valley 3 Day.

At Pine Forest last night, all eyes were on Dick O’Brien and Tom Blennerhassett after their recent Rás Mhaigh Eo showings, and they duly did their duty and delivered despite a dismal Dublin deluge dampening their deeds.

On the same day that Marcel Kittel sprinted to victory in Belfast, our own Bernard English did the same a little further south. Mark Mulcahy and Eamon Finn also placed at Dunsany, while earlier in the week Claire McEntee chalked up a superb time in Dundalk to take the Leinster 10TT title.

Entry is now open for this year’s Inter-Club League. An ideal pathway into racing, the league will run over 18 weeks between April and August.

An early evening deluge cleared for a perfect night's testing, as Dick O'Brien sealed another club championship in the face of stiff competition from Brian McArdle. Aideen Keenan took top honours for the women, while Sean Murnane and Naoise Sheridan set records for their categories.

Update: now with photo link.

It was a week for the testers, as the Club 10TT Champs clashed with the Nationals, with some outstanding results in both - Dick O'Brien dominating the former, and Claire McEntee setting a blistering time in the latter. Corkagh Park saw first a Horan haul, then an Orwell clean sweep, while three of the men completed the National Road Race Champs on Sunday.

The opening road race of the club league saw the two front groups show their strength to stay away and swamp the placings in the hunt for the win. Robbie Dolan and Mark Holland were the ultimate victors, but all who shared the load should be proud of their efforts.

A gorgeous evening in Mondello for the Club Champs saw Brian McArdle solo to victory, with defending champ Darragh Long coming in ahead of Brian Ahern at the front of the bunch.

The league is run by a set of volunteer organisers – they make sure the races run smoothly and safely. Every participant is also asked to marshal for one or two races throughout the league. Marshalling involves asking traffic to stop or slow so that the race can pass through safely.

With the league now done and dusted, we dip back into the final two rounds - Brian McArdle's ascendency on Kilmashogue, and Sean Barry's victory in Glencullen.

The winners of the first 2014 Orwell crit came from both ends of the spectrun - young rising star Conor Murnane, and experienced Rás veteran Brian Ahern. Read on for more!

Last week we had two wins from two breakaways, as Pat O'Brien showed just why he's top of the league at the moment, then leaving his rivals Barry Dace and Jamie Busher behind. Graham Scanlon and Keith Harte did the same to the rest of Limit and Semi-limit, with the former coming out on top for a fine win.

Last week's club action saw two bunch sprints taken with small gaps by classy winners Bryan Geary and Owen O'Flaherty. Read all about it!

The Club League Committee are gearing up for the 2014 calendar, and are currently hard at work getting the necessary pieces into place. Ahead of the final calendar, here's some prelimiary notices of your responsibilities for the Orwell League.

If you haven't seen Dick's post on the forum, we're now accepting entries for the 2015 Orwell League. The registration deadline is Saturday February 28, so if want to take part, be sure to get your entry in before then. There's plenty more details below to fill you in on the basics.