What a fantastic display! The Irish women’s gymnastics team secured a fantastic second place finish at the Northern European Championships held in UL this weekend. The talented side bagged silver thanks to a second place finish on the beam, third on bars and a top five vault from teenager Eilis O’Reilly and fantastic performances from Casey Bell and Nicole Mawhinney to put the women in green into second spot, just four points behind Wales. Ireland's Ellis O'Reilly on the beam. “Both teams did really well, our women's scores were the highest we have ever achieved at this level," said Gymnastic Ireland's performance and technical manager, Sally Filmer, adding that the men’s team bagged the gold team medal. Ireland's Casey Bell  "They had a fantastic beam competition and were really solid also on vault. Both teams are in preparation for next month's World Championships which is the main Olympic qualifier for Rio 2016."

Irish Top Medal Haul at Northern Europeans http://t.co/SCCsvREWzo @sportireland @iresport @Herdotie @The42_ie pic.twitter.com/3VJcYyxfzy

— Gymnastics Ireland (@GymnasticsIre) September 19, 2015

"We were also carrying some junior athletes in preparation for the Rio test events so this was a hugely promising performance by all of our gymnasts and the huge home support also helped." Ireland's Nicole Mawhinney on the beam Their fight for medals is not over just yet though, as eight gymnasts have also qualified for over a dozen of Sunday’s individual apparatus finals at the University of Limerick sports arena. Images: INPHO