So close, yet so far...
SAL Division 1, Match 3
Battersea Park, Saturday 18th June 2016
In one of the closest matches in the division this year it was every point counts for all teams as Belgrave battled it out against Southampton, Dartford Harriers and Colchester Harriers in our home match.[ezcol_1half]
WOMEN’S TEAM
It was ladies day on the track as the home squad put together some brilliant performances to keep us in touch with the tight competition throughout the day.
The Portugal training camp duo of Rose O'Brien and Jodie Albrow led the way for the ladies team as they took on a multi-event challenge throughout the day. Convincing wins fro Jodie in the 400m hurdles, 100m hurdles and javelin A ensured they were off to a good start whilst top points scorer for the ladies Rose took on the 800m, 400m, javelin, pole vault and steeplechase before the two united for both relays. They were joined there by Electra Lanyon who notably anchored a down-to-the-wire 4x100m after having already won her first individual 400m in great style.[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][gallery link="none" size="large" columns="1" type="slideshow" ids="4341,4342,4343,4344,4346,4347,4348,4349,4350,4351,4352,4353,4354,4355,4356,4357,4358,4359,4360,4361,4362,4363,4364,4365,4366,4367,4368,4369,4370,4371,4372,4373,4374,4375,4376,4377,4378,4379,4380" orderby="rand"]
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Haylene Ryan-Causer made her return to the track for Belgrave and boosted our sprints team with a solid run in the 100m A whilst Darcy Burton backed up a difficult long jump with a second in the 100m B and a gutsy run in the 200m B to put 5 points into the pot overall. Georgia Patterson also bounced back from the long jump with a brilliant win in the high jump B, where she was joined by Milla Mackenzie who dropped by for a study break to take on the A string. In fact it was a day of drops in from our youth team who banded together for the team with Julia Doukrou popping in for a triple jump post a hideous 25hr school trip coach journey and Ayse Hussein also whizzed over straight after her inter-counties long jump win to run a leg in the 4x100.
It was a lighter workload than usual for Jessica Case who after a tough run in the 400m hurdles managed to hold her body together long enough to claim second in the 100m hurdles B. Meanwhile steeplechase stalwart Helen Brown too third in the steeplechase B and triple jump B.
Last minute ring in Ellen Hunter certainly made an impact as she drew for first in the pole vault B and also came third in the hammer A with a massive PB. She was joined by Vilma Thompson who led out the throws for the day competing in the hammer, shot and discus with a win in the latter B comp. Team player Leanne Bettis managed to make the journey down to London with a temperamental back to win the A discus in fine fashion.
Finally ready for the track, Saron Haileselase made her debut for the SAL team in fine form as she sped away to win the 1500m A whilst training partner Keri Mackenzie pushed through a hangover to take out the B string before running a storming second leg in the 4x4 relay. Meanwhile nursing a niggle Jojo Rhodes managed to win the 800m B before sensibly resting her foot and taking on cheerleader duties.
In the long distance Zoe Smith maintained her dominant form as she blitzed the 3000m ladies field with teammate Helen White also taking a win in the B string, whilst Maureen Noel took on the challenge as a non- scorer.
MEN’S TEAM
The men’s team was spearheaded by Boy Friday Matt Threadgold who decided to try his hand at all of the field events bar high jump as he filled gaps left right and centre with a run out in the 400m hurdles, 110m hurdles, 100m and the relays on the track for good measure. His tally of 10 events for the day made him top points scorer as he led the charge for the men’s team.
A quick jump in the high jump B set up Sam Shore nicely as he had a storming run in the 400m hurdles where not even a set of rogue blocks left in his lane could stop him from winning and running a PB. Whilst William Sharman put in a textbook display in the 110m hurdles much to the delight of the home crowd and other spectators as he cruised to victory.
After a tight high jump contest Matthew De Rossi paired up with Mike Burslem to compete in the 400m where the boys battled it out for 4th in the A and 1st in the B. Meanwhile Michael McBrinn showed his consistency with a fine run in the 100m B and 400m non-scoring race.
Ed Auden and Matt Welsh made a formidable pair in the 5000m as they took the win in both the A and B respectively. Matt then moved to the 1500m where he joined Nick Buckle who made his SAL debut for the team by stepping up to fill in in the 1500m before taking on his preferred event in the 2000m steeplechase where in put in a great performance in the A race along with Bruce Barton who took a turn in the B string to get more points for the team.
Newcomer Josh Trigwell led out the men’s 800m race as a non-scorer where Adam Dudgeon continued his run of form to take a win in the A with Nick Dilley clinging on in the B race before turning his attention to the long jump, pole vault and triple jump to round out his day. Whilst in the field Tom Ikeda continued to spearhead the throwing team as he took on all of the throws with Matt Threadgold acting as a proxy for an injured Chris Privett.
Our non-scorers where also out in force with Robert Norville running a SB in the 800m as he continues his return from injury whilst Jeremy Oldaker had great runs in the 800 and 400 and he awaits his change of club. Newcomers Charlie Salvest and Nathan Gyan also showed their prowess on the track with certainly more to come from them in the future.
Almost but not quite…
Leading by one point with 6 events to go it was heart in mouth stuff as the team threw everything we had to try and get that deserved home win, unfortunately once again we were left slightly wanting as injuries had robbed us of athletes here and there to tip the scales ever so slightly out of our favour. It was overall a truly impressive show of team spirit as we fought all the way to the end where we were pipped at the post by a brilliant Southampton squad by 5.5pts but managed to hold of Dartford Harriers by two points.
A big thank you
Putting on a home match is always a huge task and there are a key group of people at the club who volunteer their time to make it possible for the athletes to enjoy the comfort of a home fixture.
To our key officials and helpers who ensured the day went smoothly Tony & Gillian Fairclough, Bob Bridges, Charlie Dickinson, Rex Bale, Bill Laws, Allan Black, Carl Lawton, Mont Doukrou, Roy Campbell, Don Anderson and the photo finish team, Mark Silvester, Fiona Maddocks, Megan Bailey, Nick Smallwood, Charlie Skinner, Flo Skinner and Adam Cameron, a massive thank you for making it all happen.
A special mention to Mary Dickinson, Leili Lanyon, Andrea Lynch and Sian Goodlad for their enterprising turn in the kitchen and making sure all of our officials were looked after, the personal touch was loved by all the other teams so thank you.
Finally, to all our support crew – thanks for coming out and cheering us on, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
Next Match: Saturday 9th July, Chelmsford – we are up against the top teams so please make sure you are all available for this fixture!