Cross Country National Inter-Counties championship: Séamus Power surged further into Irish athletics history yesterday by winning a record ninth successive National Inter-Counties cross country title around the picturesque Belvedere House, close to Mullingar.

The hugely popular Clare athlete, who turned 33 last Friday, appeared to be in trouble at the half-way point. Yet he bounced back to regain the lead and eventually won pulling away from the Dublin duo of Peter Mathews and Vinny Mulvey in a time of 30 minutes seven seconds for the 10,000 metre course.

"My legs were gone and I had to revert to plan B and thankfully that bore dividends. And it's a great feeling to keep my title for another year," Power said.

The event, however, was short of the presence of Catherina McKiernan, who withdrew before the women's race after suffering from a cold for most of last week.

In McKiernan's absence, however, Rosemary Ryan of Limerick was a brilliant winner of the women's title. And judging by the way she flowed over the course, Ryan would have put it up to McKiernan, who has indicated to the selectors she will be available for the European championships in a fortnight.

In fact a heavy cold had also left Power unsure of his form, but he displayed exceptional fighting qualities to maintain his amazing sequence of victories, one of the greatest in Irish sport.

At the end of the first lap it looked as if Power was going to rout his opponents as he opened a 50-metre lead, but then Mathews and Mulvey closed right down and relegated the champion to third place at the half-way point.

"I was just not strong enough to stay away and just managed to hang on," he admitted. "There was nothing left in the legs and I was suffering from a bit of cramp, and it was then that I had to change my tactics and revert to a different plan.

"I had to fight hard, but I came here for a battle and was ready for any eventuality. I was bothered by the head cold and perhaps if I was not going for nine I would not have run, but I wanted another piece of history and it's a great feeling to have won it."

Power, Mathews and Mulvey now become automatic selections on the Irish team for the European Championships in Edinburgh, with the full teams being announced later today.

For Ryan, there was simply no denying her a second title after a gap of four years, and she won by some 46 seconds from the American-born Jolene Byrne of Dublin, with defending champion Ann Keenan-Buckley third.

Ryan led every step of the way, looking a class athlete, and came across the line full of running, thus ending a couple of years of frustration during which she suffered an ankle injury and a hip problem.

Local star Mark Christie was a brilliant winner of the junior men's title, coming home 27 seconds clear of Andrew Ledwith of Meath, while Azmera Gebrezgi, formerly of Eritrea but representing Dublin, took the corresponding women's title.