Review of the Year: Rea deposed, Frampton hangs up gloves and sweet 16 for Hunter
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Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea were involved in a series of thrilling battles
It gives some indication of the success enjoyed by Northern Ireland motorcycle riders in recent times that 2021 can be regarded as a relatively lean year in comparison to those that went before.
For the first time in seven years, Ballyclare's Jonathan Rea will not go into 2022 as defending World Superbike champion.
After a thrilling season-long battle, the Kawasaki rider was narrowly edged out in the championship chase by Turkish Yamaha star Toprak Razgatlioglu - a relatively meagre 13 points the eventual winning margin.
Rea ended the season with the same overall number of individual race wins as his rival - but his bid for a seventh straight title eventually faltered due to a combination of technical issues, a disadvantage in straight line speed and some uncharacteristic errors which led to crashes.
Despite having to settle for an unaccustomed second place in the series, Rea ended well within striking distance of the new champion and that impressive tally of race wins is indicative that the 34-year-old's powers do not appear to be on the wane and he can harbour realistic ambitions of regaining his crown next season.
Glenn Irwin was again the pick of the Northern Ireland riders in the premier 'big bike' class in the British Superbike Championship.
The Carrickfergus rider overcame illness in the early part of the season and a persistent shoulder injury throughout the campaign to make the end-of-season 'Showdown' and secure eighth place in the series.
The Honda Racing rider also added another race win to his tally but will have high hopes of challenging for the title in 2022 as he embarks on a new year hopefully injury-free after undergoing surgery on that troublesome shoulder.
With international road racing also set to resume after a two-year hiatus his ambitions will also take in adding to his tally of four North West 200 wins and making his long-awaited Isle of Man TT debut.
Dubliner Jack Kennedy clinched a third British Supersport title while County Tyrone teenager Cameron Dawson raced to the British Junior Supersport crown.
Despite the significant disruption caused to the calendar by the Covid-19 pandemic, two Irish national road events were staged - the Armoy road races at the end of July and the Cookstown 100 in September.
Michael Dunlop was a five-time winner at the Armoy road races
Michael Dunlop dominated Armoy with a five-timer, extending his run of consecutive wins in the feature 'Race of Legends' to nine and his number of career wins at the county Antrim meeting to 24.
The Ballymoney rider set a new lap record for the circuit for good measure.
Cork rider Mike Browne and Tobermore's Adam McLean took doubles at Cookstown, with Forest Dunn winning the feature race after only seven riders decided to take their place on the grid because of the treacherous conditions.
North West 200 wins record holder Alastair Seeley had to sit out racing on British short circuits as he was unable to acquire a suitable ride but the Carrick native enjoyed plenty of success on the home front, winning both the Ulster Superbike and Supersport championships in some style.
End of an era and success stories
Carl Frampton was emotional as his boxing career came to a close
The year 2021 finally marked the end of the road for Northern Ireland's two-weight world boxing champion Carl Frampton after an illustrious career.
The 34-year-old hung up his gloves seconds after his WBO super-featherweight defeat by American Jamel Herring in early April.
The Belfast boxer was stopped for the first time in a 31-fight professional career as he fell short in his bid to become Ireland's first three-weight world champion.
Frampton can now reflect on those landmark fights and glory nights which earned him a prime place in Northern Ireland sporting history, cheered on by his huge band of followers.
While one Belfast boxer called it a day, another continued his steady trajectory towards what he hopes will be a world title as Michael Conlan secured a unanimous points win over TJ Doheny at Falls Park on 7 August.
That victory saw Conlan pick up the interim WBA featherweight world title but a bigger prize awaits as he lines up a probable world featherweight title shot with Leigh Wood in New York on St Patrick's Day.
Conlan also received some good news in relation to the widely perceived injustice he suffered at the 2016 Olympics.
The findings of an independent report published at the end of September provided some vindication for his highly controversial points defeat by Vladimir Nikitin in his bantamweight quarter-final at the Rio Games.
That fight, in which Conlan was denied a second Olympic medal, was one of 11 deemed 'suspicious' in the report's findings.
Conlan went toe-to-toe with Doheny for 12 rounds in Belfast's Falls Park in August
Meanwhile Lewis Crocker successfully defended his WBO European welterweight title with an impressive seventh-round victory over Artem Haroyan at the Ulster Hall.
The Belfast fighter dropped his Armenian opponent in the sixth round with a left-hook and finished him with a strong body shot in the seventh.
The win in his home city took Crocker's career record to 14-0, the Belfast man having also secured a hard-fought unanimous points win over Deniz Ilbay in Bolton in March.
At this year's rescheduled Games in Tokyo, Aidan Walsh won a bronze medal in the welterweight division in an otherwise disappointing Olympics for Irish boxers.
Lisburn's Kurt Walker was one win short of a medal in Tokyo after stunning world champion Mirazizibek Mirzakhalilov to reach the quarter-finals, only to be narrowly beaten by America's Duke Ragan.
Walker, 26, has joined the pro ranks with management company Conlan Boxing, and will debut at featherweight, with an opponent yet to be revealed. His stated ambition is to one day fight for a world title at Windsor Park.
Katie Taylor has held all the lightweight world title belts since June 2019
Ireland's Katie Taylor has continued to blaze a trail on the world stage, defeating Kazakhstan's Firuza Sharipova on points in her latest defence of her undisputed world lightweight title.
It was a 20th professional victory for Bray woman Taylor in a career that has included six KOs.
Matchroom Boxing have indicated that the win has put Taylor, who also saw off the USA's Jennifer Han on points in Leeds in September, firmly in the picture for a huge showdown with Amanda Serrano in 2022.
Donegal's Jason Quigley fell short in his world title bid in November, suffering a second-round knockout as he was overwhelmed by Demetrius Andrade in his WBO world middleweight title bout.
Belfast's Caoimhin Agyarko ended the year on a high, winning the WBA international middleweight title with a last-gasp stoppage victory against Noe Larios Jr in December for a 10th professional win in as many bouts.
Sweet 16 for schoolgirl Hunter
Ireland's Hunter thrilled after record-breaking feat on 16th birthday
There were for mixed fortunes for Ireland's cricket teams in another year impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Highlights including a record-breaking innings from Belfast's Amy Hunter on her 16th birthday while Graham Ford stepped down as men's coach.
The men started 2021 in Abu Dhabi by drawing 1-1 draw with hosts UAE before going down to a disappointing 3-0 defeat by Afghanistan in World Cup Super League matches despite two centuries from opener and talisman Paul Stirling.
Irish cricket was in mourning in January following the death of former international pace bowler and ex-national team manager Roy Torrens at the age of 72.
A planned tour of Zimbabwe in March was called off because of Covid before a 2-1 ODI loss to the Netherlands three months later.
June also saw the retirement of Kevin O'Brien from the one-day game - the all-rounder still holds the record for the fastest century in ICC World Cup history, hitting 100 runs in just 50 balls against England in 2011.
A century from skipper Andrew Balbirnie helped Ireland to a first ever win over South Africa with the ODI series at Malahide ending 1-1. The Proteas secured a 3-0 victory in the T20 series and the summer home games continued with a 3-2 T20 win over Zimbabwe followed by a 1-1 ODI draw with the tourists.
Curtis Campher took a remarkable four wickets in four balls as Ireland started their T20 World Cup campaign in October with a seven-wicket victory over Netherlands.
However, they missed out on the Super 12s after group defeats by Sri Lanka and Namibia and a month later Ford announced his departure after four years at the helm for the South African. Former Northamptonshire boss David Ripley was appointed interim head coach on a three-month contract.
Graham Ford left the Ireland job two years into a three-year contract
The women's team had to wait until May to play their first competitive game of the year - indeed, they had not been in action since September 2019 because of the pandemic.
Their opponents in Belfast were Scotland and Ireland ran out 3-1 series winners including three wickets in four balls for Leah Paul.
Another T20 home series victory came in July with a 2-1 win against the Netherlands but the Irish failed to progress in the European T20 World Cup qualifiers in La Manga.
Only one spot for the 2023 World Cup was up for grabs and defeat by Scotland proved decisive as Ed Joyce's team missed out although all-rounder Eimear Richardson was named player of the tournament.
The focus switched to the one-day game with a World Cup Qualifier warm-up tour of Zimbabwe and Ireland secured an impressive 3-1 series win over the hosts.
It included that wonderful knock by birthday girl Hunter. She hit a superb 121 not out in Harare to become the youngest player to hit an international century.
The Irish made a quick return to Zimbabwe for the World Cup Qualifier but after just two games the tournament was abandoned after the detection of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant.
It meant the three qualification places on offer were decided on team rankings and while Ireland failed to go through they did earn a berth in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Women's Championship.