Shearing legend avid Fagan made a triumphant return to the stage at the Lochearnhead Shears, clocking up his sixth win at the prestigious Blackface sheep- shearing event.
The 52-year-old New Zealander, who hails from Te Kuiti in the North Island, thinks this may be his last time competing at Lochearnhead, depending on future New Zealand team selections, but he made it one to remember as he notched up his 628th open title. This was despite being jet-lagged, having only flown to Scotland a few days before the event.
The open competition was a close-run thing, with only three points separating those in the four-man final: David Fagan, fellow New Zealander Johnny Kirkpatrick, and Scotland’s Calum Shaw and Hamish Mitchell.
“Lochearnhead Shears is a unique competition because of the Blackface sheep, which makes it harder for the rest of the world to compete against the Scots,” said David.
“But this is what makes it a very special competition to win, and I cannot thank the locals enough for giving me a few sheep to practice on since landing in the country,” added the 16-time New Zealand Golden Shears winner, five-time Golden Shears world champion, and six-time world team title holder.
Three of those shearers in the open final had the chance of a warm-up in the Scotland versus New Zealand test, which saw Kirkpatrick and Fagan go head to head against Hamish Mitchell and last year’s open winner Simon Bedwell.
The Scots pulled it out of the bag here as both Hamish and Simon flew through their 18 sheep each to finish in the fastest times which, teamed with a very low score on the board from Hamish, pushed them into the top spot for the ninth consecutive year.
The international relay between Scotland, Wales, England and New Zealand saw another victory for Scotland as Calum Shaw, John Little and Grant Lundie romped home in the fastest time with a combined score of 50.233, which included the lowest scores on the board and in the pen for the 15 sheep shorn.
Wales picked up second here, with New Zealand in third and England fourth.
Welshman Elfed Jackson celebrated his first win in the blade, or hand-shearing, section. He clipped strongly throughout to finish his four hoggs in nine minutes 21 seconds, placing him ahead of fellow Welshman Gareth Owen.
Cumbria’s Peter Bland came in third.
The Highland Show winner and only Scot to qualify for the final, Jimmy Wright from Doune, was fourth.
It was a similar line-up for the Scotland versus Wales blade test, which saw Wales’ Gareth Owen and Elfed Jackson pick up the silverware, while Scotland’s Willie Craig and Jimmy Wright finished second.
The senior final was another exciting match as the sole Scot qualified, Scott Wilson, went up against New Zealanders Ethan Pankhurst, Guy Fraser and Dean Herlihy.
Scott was quickest off the mark and sent his last down the chute in nine minutes and four seconds, with Ethan some 14 seconds behind.
An improved score in the pen meant Ethan went home with the red ticket by the narrowest of margins.
Huntly’s Charles McCombie followed his Highland Show win by winning the same intermediate section, finishing his five hoggs in five minutes and 23 seconds.
Crianlarich lass Emily Te Kapa had much to celebrate as she went home with a huge haul of prizes, including sashes for the top spot in the junior section, best of the wool handlers, first place in the Scotland versus Republic of Ireland development test and the one most shearers want to get their hands on the Colin MacGregor Salver for the best pen in any final.
Leading awards at the Lochearnhead Shears were as follow:
Open (20 sheep):
1 David Fagan;
2 Johnny Kirkpatrick;
3 Calum Shaw;
4, Hamish Mitchell.
Scotland v New Zealand test (18):
1 Scotland with Hamish Mitchell and Simon Bedwell; 2 New Zealand with Johnny Kirkpatrick and David Fagan.
International relay (15): 1 Scotland (Calum Shaw, John Little, Grant Lundie); 2 Wales (Rhys Jones, Nicky Beynon, Dion Hughes); 3 New Zealand (Jack Fagan, Shaun Burgess , Louis Sorrosal; 4 England (Antony Rooke, Joel Barton and Stewart Pullin).
Blade (four): 1 Elfed Jackson; 2 Gareth Owen; 3 Peter Bland;
4 Jimmy Wright.
Scotland v Wales blade test (four):
1 Wales (Gareth Owen and Elfed Jackson);
2 Scotland (Willie Craig and Jimmy Wright).
Senior (10): 1 Ethan Pankhurst; 2 Guy Fraser; 3 Scott Wilson; 4 Dean Herlihy.
Intermediate (5):
1 Charles McCombie;
2 Lewis Harkness;
3 David Gibson;
4 James Shennan.
Scotland v Republic of Ireland development test (3): 1 Scotland (Emily Te Kapa and Stuart Grant); 2 Republic of Ireland (Andrew Bonham and Rodney Dryan.
Junior (4): 1 Emily Te Kapa; 2 Chris Duncan;
3 Owain James; 4 Stuart Grant.
Wool handling (four fleeces): 1 Emily Te Kapa; 2 Kirsty Donald;
3 Stacey Mundell;
4 Clare Wilson.