All Colours Track and Field meets
| Edition | Date | Host | Venue | Results | Races | Athletes | Note |
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| 24 | 11th Apr 2012 | UCD | Irishtown Stadium | View | 16 | 45 | |
| 23 | 7th Apr 2010 | UCD | Belfield | View | 18 | 59 | |
| 22 | 12th May 1982 | TCD | College Park | View | 26 | 49 | The 119th College Races at College Park produced the third successive win for UCD's men in the Colours Match, with a winning margin of 24 pts. Throughout the match UCD was always on top. UCD had the better of the track events, winning five to Trinity's three, but decisively took maximum points in four events against one for Trinity. Paul O'Brien of UCD took a double win in the sprints. Noel Murphy, a former UCD athlete, took the 400m and 800m for TCD, both events in match records. A further match record fell to David Lynch of UCD in the 1500m. The scores in the field events were closer, but with UCD holding the upper hand - 28pts for UCD v. 23 pts for TCD. Neither Triple Jump nor Pole Vault was held. The Women's match was also won by UCD by 19 pts. Honours were even in the six track events - TCD 33pts v. UCD 32pts. While Trinity won four of the track events, UCD scored maximum points in their two wins against one maximum for Trinity. There was a treble of wins for Margo Quinn of TCD in the 100m, 200m and 400m, the reigning Intervarsity 100m-200m champion. UCD dominated the field events, taking four out of five and three with maximum points. Trinity's only win was in the Long Jump. The field events scores were UCD 35pts v. TCD 18 pts. The UCD women rounded off their match win by taking the 4 x 100m relay. Invitation track events provided excitement for the spectators - Steve Cauldwell of St. Mary's College, London, won the 1000 yards race in 2:12.00, Kingston Mills (Civil Service) won the 3000 metres in 8:26.00, and Louise McGrillen (DCH) won the women's invitation 1500 metres in 4:34.00. |
| 21 | 13th May 1981 | UCD | Belfield | View | 28 | 46 | In a break with venue rotation the 1981 Colours match was held at Belfield. The men's contest was a runaway win for UCD. Of the eight track events Trinity won only the high hurdles, Stephen Berkeley recording a match record. UCD scored six of its seven wins with maximum points, taking the track events by 59pts to Trinity's 29pts. UCD also added the 4 x 100m relay to its tally. In addition UCD won all seven field events, two with maximum points, by a margin of 49pts to 22pts. UCD's winning margin was the highest recorded in the 21-year history of the contest. Brian Dunne took a double win in the 200m and 400m, both in Colours match records. Tony Dunne also scored a double in the Long and Triple and Brendan Curtin, a double in the Pole Vault and Shot Putt. In reports of the Women's match, the results of four of the track events were not recorded. Honours were even in the field events - UCD 27pts v TCD 28pts - with TCD winning two events with maximum points and UCD taking three events, one of which with maximum points. Three match records were achieved - Fionnuala Kennedy (TCD) in the high jump, Anne Lindsay (UCD) in the Shot Putt and M. McGovern in the Javelin. Anne Lindsay recorded a double win in Shot Putt and Discus. In addition Étain Croasdell (TCD) recorded a match record in the 400m. |
| 20 | 14th May 1980 | UCD | Belfield | View | 28 | 58 | An eventual evening's entertainment was provided for the spectators. Honours were shared in these Colours Matches, UCD winning the men's contest and TCD winning the Women's contest. Seven new meeting's records were established, four in the men's events - Peter Markey (UCD in the 800m and 1,500m, Brian Dunne (UCD) in the 400m, and Frank Sweeney (UCD) in the High Jump - and three in the women's events - Margo Quinn (TCD) in the 200m, Fionnuala Kennedy (TCD) in the High Jump, and Anne Lindsay (UCD) in the Discus. In the Men's contest three UCD athletes achieved double wins - Peter Markey (800m and 1500m), Tom Shaughnessy (Shot Putt and Javelin) and Tony Dunne (Long and Triple Jumps). Three double wins were also scored in the women's contest, two for TCD - Margo Quinn (100m and 200m) and Étain Croasdell (400m and 800m) - and one for UCD - Anne Lindsay (Shot Putt and Discus). After two decades of Colours Matches UCD's men led Trinity by 12 matches to seven matches, with one drawn. However, the honours were even between UCD and TCD in the second decade 1971 - 1980 with five matches each, several of which were decided by the outcomes of the final few events of the meetings. After sixteen women's Colours matches, the tally was TCD 10 v. UCD 6. |
| 19 | 23rd May 1979 | TCD | College Park | View | 28 | 62 | The Colours Matches formed part of College Races. The outcome was a double match win for Trinity. The TCD women won well but the men's contest went right down to the last event on the programme - the 5000m. The points tally see-sawed throughout the men's contest. With four events remaining, a UCD victory seemed on the cards with the scores at UCD 66 pts v. TCD 55 pts. However, TCD clawed their way back into contention, helped by a 'No Height' by Frank Sweeney (UCD), the favourite in the High Jump, and a dropped baton in the relay by the UCD quartet. With one event remaining, the points tally stood 82 - 78 in Trinity's favour. A dramatic finale to the athletics programme was in prospect. A UCD clean sweep in the 5000m would seal the match 86 - 85 in their favour. Representing UCD, Ronan Murtagh had won the Intervarsities 10,000m and the Bronze medal in the 5000m that year and Eamonn McMahon was double Intervarsities Cross-Country Champion in 1976 and 1978 and 3000m steeplechase champion in 1979 and double Bronze medallist in the steeplechase 1976 and 1978. Representing TCD, Kingston Mills had won the Intervarsities 5000m and the Silver medal in the 3000m steeplechase, while Paul Dunne was the reigning Intervarsities Cross-Country Champion and 1500m Silver medallist. From the gun Murtagh took out the pace, but was a surprising spent force after four laps, when his team-mate McMahon raced to the front. With two laps remaining Kingston Mills stepped up the pace and stormed to the finish 7.5 seconds ahead of McMahon. Dunne took 3rd place for TCD to seal the match. In the match analysis UCD took the track events, excluding the relay, by 51 pts to 37 pts, while TCD took the field events by 47 pts to 29 pts. The only double win was that of Arthur Devine of UCD (100m and 200m). In the Women's event there was a treble of wins for Lucy Moore of UCD in 100m Hurdles, High Jump and Javelin and double wins for TCD's Siobhan Conroy (Shot Putt and Discus) and Catherine Llewellyn (400m and 800m). |
| 18 | 17th May 1978 | UCD | Belfield | View | 16 | 33 | This was the inaugural Colours Match on the tartan track at Belfield which had been officially opened in June 1977. Trinity were attempting to pull off three wins in a row. That hope was dashed by UCD's domination of the track events which was pivotal to its win. Eight wins in the eight events, four with maximum points, plus the 4 x 100m gave UCD a 64pts advantage against TCD's 31pts. Trinity won five of the seven field events, two with maximum points, to take some solace out of the match with 43pts to UCD's 34pts. Double wins were achieved by Paul Duffy of UCD (100m and 400m) and by John Fortune of UCD (110m and 400m hurdles). |
| 17 | 17th May 1977 | TCD | College Park | View | 28 | 53 | The match took place in near-perfect conditions. Trinity's men took the Colours trophy by a margin of 19 pts, winning the track events by 48pts to UCD's 40 pts and the field events narrowly by 39pts to UCD 37pts. However, with the final two events to be decided in the match, the result could have gone either way, but maximum points in the Pole Vault and success in the Shot Putt pushed TCD to victory. It was Trinity's first back to back Colours win since the win/draw of 1961/1962. Double event wins were achieved by Declan Drislane in the 100m and 200m for TCD and by Joe Carey in the Long and Triple Jumps for UCD. One of the highlights of the match the performance of John Bolger in the 5000m in cutting some seven seconds off the match record. The Women's match turned in UCD's favour in the field events. Having held their own in the track events by 34pts to UCD 32pts, Trinity lost the five field events by 15 pts - TCD 20 pts v. UCD 35pts. UCD took maximum points in three field events and won four against Trinity's single Javelin win. Although TCD won the 4 x 100m relay, it was too little too late to save the day. Lucy Moore of UCD recorded a double in the Long and High Jumps, with a match record in the former, while Siobhan Lonergan of TCD had dual success in winning the 800m and 1500m, equalling the match record for the shorter distance. |
| 16 | 11th May 1976 | UCD | Belfield | View | 28 | 58 | In the sixteen year history of the Colours Match, the event was watched by the smallest crowd ever in blustery conditions. However, the Match saw the reappearance of the Delaney-sculpted Colours Match Trophy. Trinity's men came to the Colours match with confidence having finished a mere six points behind Queen's University Belfast at the Intervarsities in Limerick. Despite a disqualification in the 200m, Trinity held their own in the eight track disciplines by 44pts to 43pts, each team scoring maximum points in two events. In previous years the field events had been Trinity's Achilles heel, but with coaching from Phil Conway DUHAC took the seven disciplines by 45pts to UCD's 31pts, scoring maximum points in three events versus one event by UCD. Trinity capped their win with a meeting's record in the 4 x 100m relay, an event they had won at the Intervarsities in Limerick. It was Dublin University's largest margin of victory in the series. There was to have been an invitation 3000m steeplechase as an interlude in the programme, but no athletes showed up. There was compensation for UCD in the Women's match with a runaway success over Trinity. UCD won all eleven events, gaining maximum points in five of them. Star of the evening's athletics was Maeve McCormack of UCD who won the 100m, 200, 400m and 800m, setting meeting's records in three, placed 2nd in the high jump and anchored the winning relay quartet. Gerry Finnegan of UCD clipped some six seconds off the previous record for the 5000m. While both the men's and women's 100m were won in fast times, neither was confirmed as a meeting's record because of the windy conditions. |
| 15 | 21st May 1975 | TCD | College Park | View | 27 | 60 | As two years previously the Colours Match formed part of College Races in "boiling sunshine". A special invitation event was sandwiched in between Colours Match events, a 1,000y race. It was won by Jim McGuinness of Belfast Achilles in 2:09.6, breaking Derek McCleane's 11-year-old national record of 2:10.3. Kevin Humphries (D.C.H.) was 2nd, John Glover (Annadale Striders) placed 3rd and Frank Murphy (Clonliffe Harriers) was 4th. The athletics showpiece of Trinity Week resulted in clear double wins for U.C.D. The individual star of the Colours matches was Maeve McCormack who won four events - 100m, 200, 400m and High Jump, setting meeting records in the 200m and 400m. A 1500m was included in the women's programme for the first time. Trinity only won one of the track and field events, the javelin throw, but did win the 4 x 100m relay. In the men's Colours Match two meeting records were set by Gerry Finnegan in the 5000m and David O'Connor in the 1500m. In the 1500m Sean McBride of UCD and Robert Wormell of TCD were also both inside the old record. Double wins were recorded by Davis Tilsley of Trinity in the 110m and 400m hurdles and by Brendan Curtin of UCD in the Shot Putt and Javelin. UCD won five of the eight track events (49pts v. 39pts) and the relay and the five of the seven field events (44pts v. 32pts). The Men's Trophy was still mysteriously missing. A Silver Plate was presented by Prof. George Dawson to replace this and duly handed over to the U.C.D. Captain. |
| 14 | 15th May 1974 | UCD | Belfield | View | 27 | 53 | The Match in 1974 was marked by the disappearance of the Delaney-sculpted Colours Match Trophy which had been presented to TCD in College Park in May 1973. The suggestion as that it had disappeared as a result of a College prank and then been forgotten about. One craic commented that the match was being held in memory of the trophy! However the absence of the Men's trophy did not dent the rivalry between UCD and TCD. Trinity and UCD had both finished well behind Queen's in the Intervarsities at Belfield. As had happened in past contests, the outcome went right down to the wire! Trinity won the track disciplines by five events to UCD's three and took 51pts v. 37pts for UCD. John Dillon took after double in the 400m and 800m to bring his tally of wins in the Colours series to 15 events. UCD's 'secret' weapon was Brendan Curtin, a decathlete, who won an amazing six events – 110m hurdles, Shot Putt, Discus, Javelin, Long Jump, and Triple Jump. The only field event won by Trinity was the High Jump by Ian Travers with the then 3rd highest jump in Irish athletic history - 1.97 m. With two events remaining to be decided the match was finely balanced with Trinity in the lead by a single point. Trinity won the 4 x 100m relay to increase the lead to 4pts. Only the triple jump remained. Brendan Curtin aided by John Kearney took maximum points, resulting in a match win for UCD by one point. The final tally in the field events was UCD 47 pts v. Trinity 29pts. The TCD Women took a narrow win by 3 pts. The eleven events were split 6 to 5 in Trinity's favour, including the relay, each team taking maximum points in two events each. With only the relay remaining, each team had 55pts. The honours went to Trinity in a closely contested race. |
| 13 | 16th May 1973 | TCD | College Park | View | 25 | 43 | In a break with tradition, the 110th College Races hosted the 13th Colours Match. It was also the first Colours Match in College Park over metric distances. The College Races were founded in 1857 - there were two meetings that year and they were not held in 1879, 1880, 1915-1919 and 1921, hence the numbering. The decision to incorporate the Colours Match was taken to make the College Races more entertaining and more of a spectacle, since teams selected to compete against Dublin University had not been able to turn out in full strength over several years because of the afternoon nature of the fixture. It was a gloriously sunny afternoon with ideal track and wind conditions. The 'Races' were attended by President Éamon de Valera, Provost Albert J. McConnell and his wife, Dr Frederick H. Boland (Chancellor of the University, former Irish Ambassador to the Court of St. James and former President of the United Nations General Assembly) and Mr John C.A. Gaskin (Chairman, Trinity Week Committee). The incorporation of the Colours Match into the "Trinity Week" celebrations brought double success for Trinity's Men and Women by substantial margins. The DUHAC men had three double winners - John Dillon in the 400m and 800m, Tim O'Connor in Shot Putt and Discus, and Michael Kennedy in the 400m hurdles and Pole Vault. Dillon's performance brought his total of wins in Colours matches to thirteen. David Tilsley set a match record in the sprint hurdles. Trinity won six of the eight track events (TCD 54 pts v UCD 34pts) and the sprint relay and held parity in the field event with UCD (TCD 32pts v UCD 34pts). The one surprise on the track was the total eclipse of Robert Walker in the 5000m to finish last. Match records were also set in the 100m, shared by Denis O'Connell (UCD) and Brian Doyle (TCD), in the 1500 m by Robert Wormell and in the 4 x 100m relay, shared by both sprint quartets. In the Women's match, double wins were recorded for TCD by Patricia Moran (100m and 200m), Janet Grainger (Long and High Jumps) and Caroline Hunter (Discus and Javelin). Trinity won seven of the nine events, three with maximum points. |
| 12 | 10th May 1972 | UCD | Belfield | View | 25 | 51 | The 12th Colours Match took place just four days after Trinity's hosting of the Intervarsities at Santry and in College Park, the first time those championships had been held over two days. The TCD women's team were on a 'high' having won the Intervarsities title. The TCD team won all of their Colours events against UCD, taking maximum points in five out of the eight individual disciplines. The Trinity Patricia's were to the fore, with a double for Moran in the 100m and 200m and a treble of wins for Wilson in the 400m, Long Jump and Javelin. The TCD men could not emulate the performance of their female counterparts. Trinity did win five of the eight track disciplines and matched UCD in score, 44 pts each. There were fine double wins for John Ross for UCD in the 100m and 200m, John Dillon of Trinity in the 400m and 400m hurdles and Colin Cusick of Trinity in the 800m and 1500m. Robert Walker, who had won the 'varsity 10,000m, took the metric 3 miles to repeat his 1971 distance event achievement. His time was a meeting record for the 5,000m and "very much superior to the old record" set by Mick Hoey (UCD) in College Park for 3 miles (4,828m) of 14:29.80. However, Trinity could not match UCD in the field events (UCD 47pts v TCD 30pts), with UCD winning in six of the seven events, three with maximum points. Trinity only won the Discus with maximum points. Brendan Curtin, a first year engineering student, showed the athletic talent and future force he would be for UCD in Colours and Intervarsities in winning the Triple Jump in a meeting record which had stood from 1965 to Sean O'Dwyer (UCD). He had three jumps over 46ft (14.02m), the record coming in his 5th trial. UCD's relay win sealed their victory by 20pts. |
| 11 | 12th May 1971 | TCD | College Park | View | 24 | 52 | Trinity's men finally broke the sequence of five successive wins by UCD in the 11th Colours Match. DUHAC's charge was led by John Dillon who registered a remarkable quadruple of track wins in the 100y, 220y, 440y and 120y hurdles, and in the 100y broke the meeting record set by Victor Maniak at the first ever Colours Match ten years previously. He also did a personal best in the 120y hurdles. As the Intervarsities 440y hurdles champion and the then National record holder, Dillon passed up his favourite event to concentrate on winning these other events for the Trinity team. It was a tactical master-stroke! Finding inspiration from Dillon's performances, TCD won all the track events except the relay, albeit only one event with maximum points. John McIntyre, Trinity's Captain, took a track double in the 800y and the 1 mile and Robert Walker took Trinity's first ever win in the 3 miles at a Colours Match in College Park. UCD came roaring back in the field events, winning six of the seven disciplines, but again only one with maximum points. The final event to conclude at the meeting was the javelin, with TCD on 82 pts and UCD on 80 pts. Emmanuel Areo, Trinity's Vice-Captain, threw a personal best to win and thereby clinch the match, with Tim O'Connor taking 2nd place to close out the match with maximum points in the event. A meeting's record was set by UCD in the 4 x 110y relay and by David Booth (UCD) in the Pole Vault. Leo Galvin (UCD) achieved a double win in Shot Putt and Discus. TCD also won the women's match for the third successive year, winning all events barring the Discus, including three maximum point shut outs. Patricia Wilson achieved a double win in the 220y and 440y. |
| 10 | 13th May 1970 | UCD | Belfield | View | 26 | 52 | The 10th Colours match saw the track events over metric distances for the first time. Even if the evolution of Irish athletics over the first decade of the Colours matches had stripped away some of the appeal which had surrounded the inaugural match of 1961, the rivalry between the two Colleges was as intense as ever. UCD came to the match having scored an emphatic win in the Intervarsities' Championships. Although event wins were split nine for UCD, including the relay, and seven for Trinity, the difference between the teams was that UCD took maximum points in six individual events and first and third in their other two, while Trinity did not score maximum points in any event. The outstanding performance of the match was John Dillon (TCD) treble win in the 200m, 400m and 400m hurdles, in addition to which he anchored the Trinity 4 x 100m relay. Double wins were scored by Ian Mowat (TCD) in Shot Putt and Discus and by John Dooley (UCD) in the 800m and 1500m, a repeat of his double win in the Intervarsities. After 10 matches, the tally was UCD 7 wins, TCD 2 wins and one match drawn. The Women's match was a tightly contested affair. In six of the nine individual events, the points' split was 6 to 5, with each team scoring maximum points in one event. Barring a disqualification, Trinity had secured a narrow victory before final relay event. Sheena O'Brien scored a double win in Javelin and Discus and a 2nd place in the Shot Putt for UCD. For Trinity Catherine Boyle took a treble win in the 100m, 200m and long jump and a 3rd place in the javelin, while Jane McNicholl scored a 400m and 800m double win and two 2nd places and a 3rd in the throws. Between them Boyle and McNicholl contributed 35 of Trinity's points total. |
| 9 | 15th May 1969 | UCD | John F Kennedy Stadium | View | 25 | 54 | This Colours Match was to have taken place in College Park on Wednesday 14 May had to be postponed because the track was in parts under water due to torrential rain. A new venue was found the following evening at Santry. UCD retained the Dawson Trophy in the Men's match for the 4th successive year. It was "an always interesting match", with a high standard of athletics and some really exciting close finishes in the 100y, 220y, 880 y and the 1 mile. Trinity won six events against UCD's 10 events, taking six of the nine track events. The contest started very positively for Trinity with 18-year-old John Dillon beating the experienced Intervarsities champion Seán Ó Muircheartaigh in the 440y hurdles in a match record time. It was only his second ever race over the distance. He later completed a double win in the 220y, giving notice of his emerging talent as one of Trinity's best ever sprinters and hurdlers. The other meeting record was in the Shot Putt in which Ian Mowat bettered the previous best by over a foot. The 4 x 110y relay provided a thrilling climax to the match with Ben Underwood of Trinity and John McStay of UCD breaking the tape together, the official verdict being a dead heat. The results of the women's match did not appear in the newspapers. However, reports of the match in 1970 accorded a win to Trinity's women in 1969. |
| 8 | 1st May 1968 | UCD | Belfield | View | 27 | 52 | It was doom and gloom for TCD's men. "Darkness had descended on Belfield when the concluding event - the high jump, was decided in the eighth annual UCD v Dublin University contest. The result - a first and second for Trinity, only helped to reduce National's [UCD's] margin of victory. It was decisive - 113 to Trinity's 58 - and their easiest win in the series" [Irish Times, 2 May, 1968]. UCD placed 1st and 2nd in five of the eight track events and in four of the seven field events. Trinity scored only two maximum points in High Jump and Javelin. Percy Hecksher set a meeting record in the Pole Vault and Eamonn O'Keeffe, a UCD College Record in the quarter mile. For UCD Joe Cummiskey took sprint double wins in the 100y and 220y, O'Keeffe double wins in the 440y and half mile, and Larry Cheevers double wins in the Shot Putt and Discus. Seán Ó Muircheartaigh scored a treble win in the 120y and 440y hurdles and triple jump. Although the women's contest was more keenly fought affair, UCD's women, like their male counterparts, took the honours. UCD scored 7 wins to Trinity's four and scored maximum points in four events against Trinity's two. |
| 7 | 1st Jun 1967 | TCD | College Park | View | 27 | 45 | This Colours match had been postponed from the 17th May because the track in College Park had not dried out after several days of heavy rain. The match was originally rescheduled for Monday 29th May, but had to rescheduled a second time to Thursday 1st June. The track was in perfect running condition and the weather fine. Trinity were left short of several of their regular performers because of examinations. Accordingly "there was little excitement in UCD's double victory over Dublin University in both the men's and ladies' contests". In the men's contest, UCD won all the track events. Trinity's only joys came from a double win by Richard Boelens in the Long and Triple Jumps, Chris Butterworth's 200 ft throw and Trinity's maximum points in the Javelin. UCD's double wins came in the 440y and 880y for Tony Taaffe and in the 100y and 120y hurdles for Aogán Ó Muircheartaigh. For the first time the women's match featured a complete programme of 11 intervarsity events with sprints, hurdles, half mile, jumps and throws. UCD's Shona Murphy won five events - 100y, 220y, 440y, Long Jump and High Jump, while Amy Barry completed a treble win in 80y hurdles, 880y and Javelin. UCD's women took maximum points in five of the eleven events against Trinity's two maximum points in Shot Putt and Discus by Alison White and Lucilla Daunt in both events. |
| 6 | 18th May 1966 | TCD | Belfield | View | 20 | 49 | Following UCD's win in the Intervarsities' Championships, expectations were high for a win by UCD in the Colours Match. These were duly fulfilled with the biggest winning margin in the series to date of 33 pts. UCD's only defeat on the track was in the 4 x 110y relay, the last event of the evening, and that a consolation win for TCD in an unremarkable time due to one of the UCD athletes pulling a muscle. The highlights for TCD were few. Lionel Hatt, the Trinity Captain, took his fifth consecutive win in the Shot Putt in the Colours match and established a new meeting's record in doing so. He repeated his throw double of 1965 with the Discus, bringing his total number of wins in the Colours match to seven. The outstanding performances for UCD were the treble wins by Tom Power in the half mile, mile and three miles and by Sean O'Dwyer in the Long, Triple and High Jumps, as well as the 100y and 220y sprint double by Joe Cummiskey and the 120y and 440y hurdles double by Seán F. Ó Muircheartaigh. The only maximum point event for TCD was the Javelin throw lock-out by Chris Butterworth and an 'undiscovered' talent, German student George Thunecke, who was only persuaded to contest the event for his College a few minutes before the match began! The Women's match comprised three sprints and a relay, with UCD taking the match honours. |
| 5 | 19th May 1965 | TCD | College Park | View | 19 | 49 | The 5th annual Colours Match took place in College Park, Trinity College. The form book had UCD as favourites after their domination in the Intervarsities' championships in Galway eleven days prior to this head-to-head meeting. However, against the odds, Ivor Rees and Steve Austen of Trinity took 1st and 2nd, respectively, in both the 100y and 220y sprints. Iggy Ó Muircheartaigh (UCD), who placed 3rd in both sprints, had been looked to by UCD to register important points in these events, having taken the 100y, 220y and 440y treble at the Intervarsities in Galway. He had achieved the same treble at the UCD Championships in early May and in the Colours Match of 1964, and in addition was the reigning NACAI Champion at 100y, 300y and 440y. Ó Muircheartaigh was also pushed all the way to the line in the 440y by Dave Clarke of Trinity. Fortified by these successes and contrary to expectations, TCD eclipsed UCD by winning 10 of the sixteen events to level the series score at two contests each with one drawn. Tom Power (UCD) repeated his double from 1964 in the half mile (no dead-heat on this occasion) and 1 mile, and Lionel Hatt (TCD) won both the Shot Putt and Discus. All round the athletic performances were of a high standard. Five Meeting Records were broken and a further two equalled. In addition there was "an avalanche of personal bests" by athletes from both clubs. Liam Gleeson (UCD) broke his fibreglass pole during the pole vault. A replacement cost £50, a considerable sum in those days. The first ever women's match between TCD and UCD had to be curtailed to three events due to the limited availability of UCD athletes. Trinity took the limited honour. |
| 4 | 20th May 1964 | UCD | Belfield | View | 16 | 37 | In the first meeting to be held at Belfield, UCD took the 4th Colours Match in commanding style by the most decisive margin of 29 points since the inaugural contest. The evening's conditions were ideal for the match. The superiority of UCD on the track was the key to the team's success with seven out of nine events. After the first seven events UCD were leading by 50 pts to 26 pts and the result of the match was never in doubt. Trinity supplied the individual winner in only the Shot Putt, 440y hurdles, 3 miles and 880y, the latter a dead-heat for first place and only took the first two places in one event, the 3 miles. The half-mile produced the most dramatic finish of the contest, with Tom Power (UCD) making up a 5-yard deficit to catch Anthony Shillington (TCD) in the last few strides for a dead-heat on the line. Two match records were set in Pole Vault and Long Jump. UCD Captain Iggy Ó Muircheartaigh took a unique treble in the 100y, 220y and 440y and anchored the UCD quartet to a win in the 4 x 110y relay. |
| 3 | 22nd May 1963 | TCD | College Park | View | 16 | 41 | The white-hot rivalry which had marked UCD-TCD clashes in Intervarsities' Championships pre-World War II was recaptured in the 3rd Colours Match. This rivalry was made all the more intense on this occasion because at the Intervarsities on 11 May at the Mardyke in Cork, UCD had won the J.P. O'Sullivan trophy by 97 pts to Trinity's 95 pts. This Colours Match was a closely fought affair with wins in eight of the 16 events to each College. There were never more than a few points between the sides and after eight events the scores were tied at 44 pts each. Trinity took six of the nine track events, while UCD won five of the seven field events. Five match records were set in the 1 mile, Pole Vault, Triple Jump, 440y hurdles and High Jump. Doubles were achieved by John Hickey (UCD) in the mile and 3 miles, Anthony Shillington in the 440y flat and 440y hurdles, Sean O'Dwyer in the Long Jump and Triple Jump, and Denis Twomey in Pole Vault and Javelin. Going into the final event, the 4 x 110y relay, the tension mounted - UCD had 84 pts and TCD 81 pts, the same situation as in 1962 but with the scores reversed. If Trinity won the relay, the match would be drawn. UCD's confidence was boosted by their victory over TCD in the Intervarsity relay. The 2nd baton change decided the match - first class for UCD, clumsy for TCD. The large number of spectators enjoyed an evening of athletic enjoyment in fine weather conditions. |
| 2 | 23rd May 1962 | TCD | College Park | View | 16 | 36 | DUHAC President George Dawson donated a trophy for annual competition in the Colours Match, a trademark impressionistic sculpture of an athlete by Edward Delaney [1930-2009]. Delaney is best known for his public sculptures - the statue of Wolf Tone and the Famine Memorial at the North-Eastern corner of St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, "Adam & Eve" in Fitzgerald Park, Cork and the Thomas Davis Memorial in College Green opposite the front gate of Trinity College Dublin. An addition to the inaugural programme was the 440y hurdles. It was to prove to be an excellent ding-dong match to the finale. Early in the evening it looked as if UCD were going to avenge their defeat in the inaugural match due to the brilliant 100y and 220y sprint double by Victor Maniak (Manning), aka Wieslaw Maniak, and the 120y and 440y hurdling double by Eddie Thornton. However, clean sweeps in the 440y and 880y kept Trinity in touch. There was also a double for Trinity's decathlete, Tjerand Lunde, in High Jump and Pole Vault. In the most thrilling events of the evening, John Hickey (UCD) was pipped by inches on the line in both the mile and the 3 miles, being credited with the same times as both winners. With 10 events completed the scores were level on 55 pts. After that the initiative swung slightly in TCD's favour. However in the penultimate event Joe Enwezor (UCD) won the Long Jump by holding off the challenge of Lunde. With the 4 x 110y relay remaining, TCD led with 84 pts to UCD's 81 pts. However, UCD's ace sprinter Victor Maniak flew out of the blocks to present a decisive lead at the first change which the rest of the UCD quartet maintained to the finish line, with tremendous cheers of enthusiasm from the UCD supporters. The match was drawn on 86 pts. Each College had won eight of the 16 events. On a toss of a coin Trinity held the trophy for the first six months and UCD for the remainder of the year. |
| 1 | 1st Jun 1961 | TCD | College Park | View | 15 | 36 | The story of the splits in Irish athletics between 1925 and 1938 is a complex one. Suffice it is say that the consequences for inter-collegiate athletics were that Queen's University could not participate from 1934 through 1967 and in the case of TCD from 1938 through 1961. While TCD did participate in the Intervarsities' Championships in 1951, this only led to a further closing of the door by the athletic authorities. However a DUHAC-led initiative through the AAUE led to the IAAF granting permission for a closed inter-university contest between TCD and UCD in May 1961. Frenetic arrangements followed. On Thursday 1 June 1961 the first officially sanctioned Intervarsity Match since 1937 involving Trinity College Dublin, affiliated to the AAUE, and University College Dublin, affiliated to the NACAI, took place in College Park. It was an event that would help to lead to the formation of Bord Lúthchleas na hÉireann in 1967 and a healing of much, but not all, of the conflict between the AAUE and the NACAI. In line with meetings between TCD and UCD in other sports, e.g., rugby, lawn tennis, hockey, sailing, this annual athletics fixture became known colloquially as "The Colours Match". Save for a slight North-Westerly wind, conditions for this inaugural inter-university athletics meeting were ideal. Such was the public enthusiasm for the match that in excess of 5,000 spectators watched the events. The fixture comprised 15 events with two competitors from each College per event, with scoring as 5-3-2-1 for the four placings, except in the 4 x 110y relay with 5 and 2 pts. TCD recorded 8 wins to UCD's seven. Double individual wins were recorded: for UCD, Victor Maniak (Manning) - 100y and 220y and Kevin Prendergast - Shot Putt and Discus, and for TCD, Colin Shillington - 880y and 1 mile and Tjerand Lunde - High Jump and Pole Vault. Trinity won by 87 pts to 73 pts for UCD. However, the contest was closer than the match score suggests as the favourite in the 120y hurdles, Eddie Thornton (UCD), was a DNF through suffering injury and UCD's long jumper Joe Enwezor tore a muscle during the event. Both had been first choices for UCD's relay quartet. Nonetheless, more importantly the match was a victory for commonsense. Without doubt athletics was the winner of the first Colours Match, with great enjoyment for athletes, officials, legislators and spectators. |