Report by Tom Gayle

In this the final league match of the season, Stoke AC’s fine crop of youngsters secured their place in the Main final for the second year running, and the 4^th time in 5 years. On a sunny afternoon the team rallied to take their match by over 100 points.

The match began with an impressive victory by Alex Williamson in the U15 boys Pole Vault. In the absence of the injured Nathan Lawton who has been undefeated in all the previous McDonalds League fixtures, Alex impressively maintained this trend by taking maximum points with a personal best vault of 2.70.

George Cooper’s middle distance squad were out in full force throughout the meeting and were responsible for A and B string wins in the U13 boys 800m and 1500m, U15 boys 3000m and the U17 boys 1500m and 3000m. Perhaps the most notable performances in the distance events were that of Alex Derricott and Carl Shubotham.

In the U13 boys 1500m Alex took the lead just after 300m, which he retained for the remainder of the race to record a new personal best of 4:51.5. His performance was probably more impressive as he was able to knock over 4 seconds off his previous best time despite constantly looking behind him to see where the opposition were, much to the annoyance of his coach George.

Carl on the other hand represented the great determination that runs throughout this young team. Despite being ill Carl was never out of the first 3 in the U15 boys 3000m and a strong last lap saw him pull away from the opposition and stop the clock at 9:45. Carl’s time, which is just 8 seconds short of the club record, suggests that when 100% he could possibly add that record to1500m mark which he broke earlier in the season.

In the field there were impressive victories by Alistair Candlish in the U15 boys long Jump, Sean Lewis in the U15 Hammer and Stephen Lewis in the U17 Pole Vault. Sean and Stephen are a prime example’s of the versatility and willingness of each athlete in the Stoke team to achieve the maximum amount of points possible. After Sean propelled the hammer out to a new personal best of 43.90 he went onto to place 2nd in the B string 400m and A string Shot Putt, while Stephen won the B string Triple Jump.

Also there was a case of triumph in the face of adversity for the team in the U15 boys High Jump. Matt Sinclair one of the clubs top up and coming High Jumpers unfortunately injured himself while warming up for the competition forcing him to with draw. At the last minute up stepped Scott Lycett who only minutes before had competed in the 400m, teamed up with Michael Wright to record a A and B string victory. Hopefully Matt will be fully repaired in time for the Final which is scheduled for early September.

There was also some impressive sprinting on the day too. In the U13 boys 100m and 200m there were runaway victories for Ryan Flynn and Tom Bissan who stopped the clock at 13.7 and 27.8 respectively. Ryan later on went onto launch the Shot Putt out to a new club record of 9.51 behind Mansfield’s Man of the Match winner Adam Hare who had to throw 9.87 in order to beat Ryan.

In the final event of the day, the 4x100m and 4x400m relays Stoke were able to take 18 points out of a possible 20, which included 4 victories. Most empathetic was perhaps the U15 boys 4x400m team who romped home 60m clear of the rest, despite claims that young Andy Waller was using the baton in a violent manner in order to pass the Mansfield athlete on the 3^rd leg. This was later simply disregarded as sour grapes by the officials and Andy will not be facing a GBH charge.

In the end Stoke ended the match with a decisive victory clocking up a phenomenal total of 278 points. Unfortunately though when all the mathematical calculations had been figured out it meant that Stoke missed out on the League title by just ½ a point to the winners of Match 2 Notts A.C. This could easily be seen as a failure but considering the relatively small catchment area for the club with regards to potential athletes it is an achievement itself for the club of our size to compete against, and also beat larger clubs such as Birchfield, Cannock & Staffs and Derby. A lot of this praise should be directed towards the team manager Chris Brackstone who has consistently brought the best out of each athlete that has passed through the McDonalds league while under his reign due to his caring and personal approach.

The whole team and their consistent flock of loyal supporters needs congratulating on another extremely successful season and hopefully we can look forward to possibly achieving our highest final placing yet in the Main Final when the club will be up against the likes of Enfield, Shaftesbury Barnet and Liverpool.

Final Match Positions

Final League Positions for the Midland Premier

*Qualify for the Main Final at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham on Sunday 2^nd September

*Qualify for the Auxiliary Final at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham on Saturday 1^ST September

*Relegated to Midland Division One

A full list of McDonalds League results, records, rankings, pictures and a whole lot more can be found at www.nationalyal.co.uk

Individual Results: