IRELAND'S coxless four, unable to assert the control and finishing pace they had shown earlier in this Olympic regatta, had to settle for fourth place from a give and take lightweight final on Lake Lanier that, at one point, they briefly lead.

In the end the difference between miss and medal was half a boat length, a margin worth little more than a second on the big screen stopwatch. The final push for the line by the Irish four Tony O'Connor at stroke with Neville Maxwell, Sam Lynch and Derek Holland behind had been matched by the Americans.

Two thousand metres earlier at the other end of the course, the were settling down for a race that many had not expected them to reach. Selected only two months ago, the four won it's repechage with authority on Wednesday and then raced through two crews, including the current World champions from Italy, on Friday.

However from the quality of the yesterday's opposition it was clear that the final would be the four's toughest test yet. They had already seen first hand the strength of the Danish in earlier races in which the World silver medallists had lead from the starting line. The Americans had posted times under the minute mark and the Canadians, fourth in the World championships last August, were showing strong form all week.

All six finalists left the stake boats bow to bow. By the 10th stroke the Danish crew, sticking to their route one strategy, had edged ahead and at the 500 metre mark had gained canvass over the rest of the field. With little to separate positions, and changes constantly through the middle stages, the Irish four began to move forward. At halfway, the first three boats had to be split by the clock Ireland 0.038 of a second in front off the Canadians and the Danish.

The precarious lead was soon overhauled as the pressure and the strike rates heightened. As the race entered the last 500 metres the Americans were racing through on the tail of a Danish four rating 48 strokes a minute. A

half a length developed beyond the Irish were able for with a final push to the line.

"We began to take hold of it at 1,000 metres and I thought we could win it then. We put in the maximum we could and it felt it was solid all the way. There were three boats faster, Sam Lynch said afterwards.

All four oarsmen will race in 10 days time at the World championships. Lynch and Derek Holland in the lightweight eight with Tony O'Connor and Neville Maxwell expected to compete in Strathclyde as a pair.

"We are going to win World championship medals for the next four years and then we'll win gold in Sydney," predicted Maxwell.