Latest news with #Scotlad
Scoop
a day ago
- Sport
- Scoop
Shearing: A Kiwi Wins The Race, But The Scots Claim The Prize
Monday, 30 June 2025, 8:14 am Press Release: Shearing Sports New Zealand Golden Shears and New Zealand Shears Open champion Toa Henderson faced his international test match shearing debut with a fair bit of zip but was unable to complete the big dream of victory at the Lochearnhead Shears in Scotland at the weekend. The lineup after the Joe Te Kapa Memorial Trophy test match between Scotlad and New Zealand at the Lochearnhead Shears on Saturday (Photo / SSNZ) In the first of the Wools of New Zealand team's six tests in the UK, the Scotland team of Gavin Mutch and Calum Shaw beat Northlander Henderson and King Country shearer Jack Fagan by 2.9 points. Henderson was first off the board, shearing the 14 horned scottish blackface sheep in 9m 40s, beating New Zealand-based Mutch by seven seconds. But Mutch, who won the New Zealand Shears Circuit final in Te Kuiti this year and is in one of the best patches of a career that claimed a World individual championship in Masterton in 2012 and a Golden Shears Open title on the same stage three years later, was the ultimate man of the day, with comfortably the best individual points in both the Joe Te Kapa Memorial Trophy test and the 20-sheep championships' Open final. Underlining that he means business in his first shearing venture in the Northern Hemisphere, and just four days after arriving from New Zealand, Henderson, in addition to posting fastest time in the test, made his way through the Open field of 36 to reach the four-man final and finish fourth. While Mutch was less than a point clear of Fagan in the test, Shaw had clearly the best quality points, but Henderson was penalised heaviest in judging on the shearing board and with the finished product in the pens. It was the quality and experience that carried the day, Mutch and Shaw having shorn or Scotland many times together, over the last decade, including the last time New Zealand won at Lochearnhead, a victory by Kiwi World champions John Kirkpatrick and Rowland Smith in 2016. Northland shearer Toa Hennderson i9nn his test match debut for New Zealand i n Scotland, first to finish but unable to break the home team's stranglehold (Photo / SSNZ) The Scots pair achieved the ultimate goal by winning the World teams championship in France in 2019. New Zealand manager Neil Fagan said Henderson took it hard and had to be reminded of the challenges he had had to face. 'Getting to the final of the Open on his first day of competition in the UK was a big achievement,' Fagan said. The team will work in the UK over the next week, heading towards the tour's next test, against England at the Great Yorkshire Show on July 9. Key results from the 30th Lochearnhead Shears and Scottish Blackface Shearing Championships at Lochearnhead Shearing Championships at Lochearnhead, Scotland, on Saturday, June 28, 2025: International, Joe Te Kapa Memorial Trophy (14 sheep): Scotland (Gavin Mutch 9m 47s, 37.992pts; Calum Shaw 11m 23s, 40.65pts) 78.642pts, beat New Zealand (Jack Fagan 9m 58s, 38.971pts; Toa Henderson 9m 40s, 42.571pts) 81.542pts. Open shearing final (20 Sheep): Gavin Mutch (Huntly, Aberdeen/Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay) 13m 44s, 49.3pts, 1; Calum Shaw (Saline, Scotland) 15m 1s, 53.3pts, 2; Denis O'Sullivan (Kerry, Ireland) 15m 16s, 53.75pts, 3; Toa Henderson (Kaiwaka, NZ) 15m 4s, 57.4pts, 4. © Scoop Media
Daily Record
28-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
Grandad stunned after pain in feet leads to shock cancer diagnosis
He was stunned when the prospect of prostate cancer was raised and a year later he was diagnosed with the disease. A prostate cancer sufferer has told of his shock when he went to doctor about pain on the soles of his feet and was asked about a family history of the disease. Gary Boyd, 56, from Kilwinning. Ayrshire, knew something wasn't quite right when he visited his GP in November 2022,. But he was stunned when the prospect of prostate cancer was raised and a year later he was diagnosed with the disease. He said: 'I had a sore left testicle and was at the doctors in November 2022 but they kept thinking it was something else until they referred me to oncology at Ayr Hospital. 'I had been down four years prior to that because I had an enlarged prostate but they said it was clear. 'Back then it was the strangest thing. I actually phoned my GP about sore feet. 'It was during Covid and you couldn't see doctors but I spoke to a lady doctor and when I told her about the soles of my feet and that I was in absolute agony she asked if anybody in my family had ever been diagnosed with prostate cancer. 'I was like 'wow, where did that come from'. 'She asked me to go in and get my bloods taken and then I got letter back from them saying to come in and get a male doctor to do a prostate check. 'I went in and then they referred me to oncology at Ayr because the doctor felt my prostate was kind of large. 'So I got an MRI down there and I got a letter back saying that I was ok. 'But I am not convinced that the cancer wasn't already there back then. 'In 2022 I had a sore testicle for a few months and it's that west of Scotlad guy syndrome - it'll go away. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. 'But I was taking eight paracetamol a day so I eventually went to the doctor.' Gary was referred to Ayr Hospital again where a doctor said the pain was coming from his prostate. After he had the biopsy, as he suspected, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was given a course of radiotherapy. Within two weeks of Gary beginning hormone treatment for the cancer the testicle pain he'd had for a year disappeared. He is relieved he fought to have his diagnosis but worries he may have passed on the risk of prostate cancer to his son Taylor, 28, and grandson Ezra, eight. He worries men are not getting tested and said: 'There should be an age where they say to guys get tested. 'I read an article where it said GPs are not encouraged to give guys a PSA blood check. They are told not to bring it up. 'I get upset talking about it but I do talk about it all the time. I am not shy about telling peple to go and get checked.' And he said if men do get checked and receive the diagnosis they dreaded there is help out there to support them through it. For Gary the Wellman Clinic at Ayrshire Cancer Care and Prostate Ffit (football fans in training) were a huge help. He said: 'You think it is just you but it is not just you.' The 13-week Prostate Ffit helps men get fitter and to change their diets but most importantly gives them the chance to speak to other men who are also battling cancer. Gary's sessions were at Kilmarnock Football Club. He said: 'I am not being ageist but there is a lot of people much older than me - in their 60s and 70s - some haven't done a lot of exercise before but are really enjoying it. It is fantastic. 'Another guy and I were more open than the rest of them. I would say what was happening to my body but as the weeks went on more people begin to talk and share tips. 'We train in Kilmarnock's community hub across the road from the stadium, 'There is a wee bit with astroturf so sometime it is exercise and other times it is running about with a ball. 'One of the guys in his 60s said last week he is buying a ball so he can kick a ball out the back door again. I would recommend it to anybody. 'I used to just get on with life but just now I am struggling a bit with my mental health and this has really helped.'
