UK Women's League - Match One

Exeter Arena, Saturday 9th May

Following on from the success of the SAL opening match the Belgrave ladies fielded a team of 12 strong women for the opening match of the UK Women’s League Competition in Exeter. With many making the trek down to Exeter the night before to try and acclimatise (hot tub essential) we meant business.With the sun peeking through onto a freshly laid track with a nightmare headwind in the back straight the conditions were set for a tough day of competition. Only 6 teams made the journey and we were cautious of some of the new teams in the league and what they had to throw at us. It certainly proved to be a tough task against the strength of Herts Phoenix and City of Liverpool with fellow London club Herne Hill pushing us all the way, followed closely by Newport and Exeter.Our sprints and jumps duo Emma Watkins and Sandra Dike had a baptism of fire coming from the success of the Southern League to tough standards of the UK League and were put through their paces in the 100m and long jump before running superb bookend legs in the 4x100m relay. Whilst Flo Skinner took time out from her studies to make the long journey to open her season in the 400mH running a tough race in the B string to pick up vital points for the club.It was great to see Nina Anderson back in the team for the summer taking charge of the A string for the 400m and 200m double and anchoring home the 4x400 relay with plenty left to give in the upcoming matches. She was accompanied by Jess Case who had the joy of three 400s for the day making a breakthrough in the 400mH and running well in the 400m and sprint hurdles as well as the two relays.It was certainly the comeback match for many with both Rachel Basford and Leanne Bettis making their triumphant return to competition following injuries and surgeries for both. Having only had her stitches removed earlier in the week Rachel cruised through a well-paced sprint hurdles to only just miss out on first place as well as solid performances in hammer and shot put and throwing in a leg in the 4x400m relay for good measure. With only two training sessions under her belt in the last few months Leanne showed her throwing pedigree runs deep with a great performance in her pet event discus.Rose O’Brien and Jojo Rhodes held up the middle distance events in the 800m and 1500m with great results including a PB for Rose and a win for Jojo in the 800m A and B string respectively.Maureen Noel retained her old faithful status trooping along to join Jojo in the 3000m and our beloved veterans Vilma Thompson and Hilde Bottin put in a great team performance in the field events covering the throws and jumps to ensure we pushed the other teams all the way.Unfortunately it was a tightly contested event and with a few too many gaps on the team sheet we had to settle for a fourth place finish. Thanks to our team manager Bob Bridges for his support and organisation and to our officials for volunteering their time as always. Special mention to Pete Mayfield who got roped into taxi services on the day for our stranded hot tub enthusiasts.The strength of the other teams certainly provided great competition for everyone and we are hopeful that the next home match in Kingston will give us the chance to put a win or top two finish on the board. So any ladies that are available on Sunday 7^th June let Bob know ASAP – strength in numbers ladies!!FULL RESULTS[tables]Standings|Belgrave Harriers|City of Liverpool|Exeter Harriers|Herne Hill Harriers|Herts Phoenix AC|Newport ACLeague Points|5.0|7.0|3.0|6.0|8.0|4.0Match Points|169.0|196.0|110.0|174.0|203.0|133.0League Positions|4|2|6|3|1|5[/tables]