special to Irish Runner.com by Eoghan Young-Murphy

Robert Connolly confirmed his return to top-class form with a commanding performance that completely obliterated the field at the Dublin Cross-Country Championships in Santry on Sunday.

It is often hard to judge the quality of an athlete in a race in which he is so blatantly superior to his challengers. But Connolly's inexorable running over almost the entire 10km course suggests he will be hard to beat at the National Inter-Counties on Saturday.

Straight from the gun on Sunday, he hit the front, though Joe Sweeney made a gallant attempt to pose a stern challenge. Sweeney, also of DSD, is just a year out of the junior level, but he managed to stay with Connolly the best part of two laps.

Yet by the completion of the third, Connolly's lead had extended to almost 100 metres - clearly unassailable. He hurtled around the remainder of the course; his lead lengthened with almost every stride. The tape was reached in 30.26; Sweeney clocked 31.14.

The relatively firm underfoot conditions in Santry Demesne were a welcome surprise; this course is normally more like a mud bath than a running track.

Joe Sweeney began to pay the price for his early exertion and almost relinquished silver, as he was forced to come to a brief halt due to foot problem. Cian McLoughlin had his deficit reduced, caught as he was by Gary Hynes and Gary O'Hanlon, who ultimately took the bronze in 31:18.

Sweeney was a most-deserved winner of the silver medal and this showing, coupled with his bronze medal performance at the National 5,000m Championship in July, confirms he has made a seamless transition from junior to senior running.

The standard of junior men in this country has arguable never been higher: the gold and silver medals won by Colin Costello and Danny Darcy respectively at the European Junior metric mile in July are testament to the current class.

And the competitiveness of the junior discipline of the Dublin Cross-Country Championships on Sunday gave cause for further optimism. Gavin O'Sullivan, still a tyro at the sport, was intent on landing the top prize. But he paid the ultimate for his tactical ineptitude: he hit the front from the gun before fading to sixth.

His teammate, Daire Bermingham, employed an opposite tactic: he began conservatively but came through to prevail. In fact to say he began conservatively is a definite underestimation: he was trudging behind in a distant fourth after lap two.

Soon, however, Bermingham was to the fore. All those who had done the early donkey-work were now wading through water, though John Coghlan, son of former World 5,000m Champion Eamonn, also came though strongly over the closing stages.

Eoin McCormack, another one of Eddie McDonagh's stable at DSD, fought a close battle with Bermingham for some part of the third lap before drifting away. Then the Raheny man strolled to a convincing victory, proving that his lacklustre form displayed during the track season is well and truly behind him - he posted 19.33.

Coghlan overhauled a tiring McCormack to register second in 19.53. Eamonn's cautious approach to training appears to be yielding the desired results - the legendary runner coaches his son.

In a closely fought team contest, DSD edged out Raheny; with four in the top eleven, they eked out a two-point win over their arch-rivals.

The absence of a myriad of athletes engaged in an international cross-country race in Holland rendered this senior women's event decidedly less competitive than other years. Maria McCambridge and Jolene Byrne last year fought a thrilling battle in the equivalent discipline last year - Byrne ultimately took the honours - but their absence, allied to that of 800m National Champion Aoife Byrne, ensured the race was devoid of stars.

The women's race itself, however lacking in quality, was quite interesting. Sportworld's Emer Martin shot to the front from the gun, soon opening a significant gap over Annette Kealy, the 37-year-old Raheny girl.

Devlin held her position through to the finish line, yet Kealy was engaged in a duel with Niamh Devlin, who overtook here Raheny rival on the last lap. Kealy, though, responded and not merely did she regain her silver medal position, she almost caught Martin.

Martin held on for gold in 16:23; Kealy took second on 16:28, ahead of Devlin.

Linda Byrne took the junior title, with an improved Ashling Baker beating Azmera Gebrezgi for second spot. Gebrezgi, once set to be the queen of the track and country, was relegated to third position.

Meanwhile, National Cross-Country champion Gary Murray had a fine run in Holland; he finished third in a race won by Moroccan Issa Dghoghi. The winning time of 29.44 was some 14 seconds faster than Murray's time of 29.58. Paul McNamara finished 15th.

n the women's race Donore's Jolene Byrne also had an impressive run, finishing fifth, followed by Orla O'Mahoney, in eight, Fionnuala Britton, in ninth, Aoife Byrne, in tenth, and Maria McCambridge, in sixteenth.

Ciaran O'Lionaird was a convincing winner of the junior men's Cork Cross-Country title yesterday. The 17-year-old, a bronze medal winner at the European Youth Olympics 1500m in July, is another of the immensely talented juniors with promising futures.

Another youngster, Mark Hanrahan, a teammate of O'Lionaird at Leevale, was a surprise winner of the senior event. He showed his strength and a cool head to come home a worthy winner, over half-a-minute clear of another senior debutante, Jamie McCarthy from Kinsale.