Ploughing championships abandoned

Published on Monday 2 November 2009 19:16

RESEMBLING more a mud-strewn battlefield than the centrepiece for top quality ploughing, the Scottish Ploughing Championships at the weekend at Farnall Mains, Brechin, had to be abandoned with a number of classes and the overall championship undecided.

The conventional plough-off was amended with no finishes needing completion. This class saw Andrew Mitchell jnr, of Forfar, claim his fifth Scottish title and entry to next year's World Championships, being held in New Zealand.

But the reversible plough-off was abandoned without a furrow being drawn in the torrential rain. The result is that the class leader from the first day's ploughing, Perth's Andy Greenhill, will go to New Zealand as Scotland's representative and not as champion.

An emergency meeting was convened to decide how qualifiers could be decided for the 2010 European Vintage Classes, to be held next year at Upper Nisbet at Jedburgh on 23-24 October. A vintage-only qualifying match will now be staged sometime in the New Year.