With 47 pairs of quality lambs catalogued from top sheep breeders across Northern Ireland, competition was fierce in each class for the top spot.

Judge for the night was Ballymena man Brendan Kelly.

Demand for these high-quality lambs was extremely strong in the sales ring, with many Northern Irish butchers and restaurants in attendance.

Taking the red ribbon in the Dutch Spotted-sired lamb class over 42.5kg was Saintfield man Tommy Jackson.

His super pair of ewe lambs then went on to win the overall champion pair of lambs.

This win made it three overall championships in a row at the royal Ulster beef and lamb championships for Jackson.

The champion pair then went on to sell for £390 (€468) each in the sales ring to David Kerr.

Overall champion

Winning overall champion in the young farmers class was Jaden McCutcheon with his super pair of Beltex-sired lambs.

This duo also went on to take overall reserve champion pair of the pre-sale show.

McCutcheon went on to sell his champion pair of lambs in the sales ring for £400 (€480) each to the The Morning Star in Belfast.

Topping the lamb section was a pair of pedigree Texel ewe lambs from the flock of Stewart Ferris.

These powerful ewe lambs took the red ribbon in the Texel-sired class weighing over 42.5kg. They sold for £700 (€840) per lamb to Kyle Diamond.

This sale-topping pair of Texel ewe lambs was followed closely behind by another cracking pair of pedigree Texel ewe lambs from the same flock. This pair took the second place spot in the same class and sold for £400 (€480) each.

Topping the trade in the any other breed category was Clive Richardson with his pair of pedigree Badgerface ewe lambs. These sparky lambs took the red ribbon in their class and went on to sell for £470 (€564).

A large majority of the lambs present on the night sold from £240 (€288) to £340 (€408), with a number of the prizewinning lambs breaching the £400 (€480) mark.