THOUGH recording the fastest time in the Olympia World Cup jump-off today (Sunday), Ireland's Bertram Allen fell foul of the vertical bogey fence that had caught out so many in the final round in London, and finished seventh overall.

Second last to go of 13 clear rounds, the Wexford teenager made a spirited attempt to beat the time of the competition's leader Marco Kutscher and Cornet's Cristallo, and though he was almost a second quicker than the German rider, Allen and Molly Malone V had to settle for seventh when the vertical fence went down.

The 19 year-old was fastest of the six combinations that incurred four jump-off faults on Irishman Alan Wade's tricky course, and his seventh place added a further 3,735 euro to his substantial weekend prize money.

Alan Wade said after the event: “Every night in the 1.50m classes we had plenty of clear rounds, so I knew they were jumping well. In the jump-off today I thought my countryman (Bertram Allen) could win. We put up the fences in the jump-off. We believe to keep the standard. We know they’re capable of going fast, but don’t want them to go flat out every day, we want jumpers to win, as well as fast jumpers”.

Allen is now holding eighth place with 34 points in the Longines 2014/2015 Western European World Cup league after seven competitions. The current leader is Switzerland's Steve Guerdat on 57 points.