An excellent all round team performance at Rowley Park earned a narrow victory to make City of Stoke AC Champions of the Midland Vets League for the first time.

Late withdrawal and injury to 4 key athletes put the squad to the test on a crucial night knowing that nothing short of victory would be sufficient.

Morris Fox ran a controlled race to finish 3^rd in the 200m. Then after winning the Long Jump he set a new Midland Vets M40 Shot Put record with a throw of 13.11 metres.

Team captain Mick Warrilow led by example with yet another winning double in the M50 200m and Long Jump.

Dave Hindley won valuable points on a busy night competing in the M60 200m, M40 Walk and M60 3000m.

Chris Bourne and Alan Burt competed extremely well in the M40 800m races finishing 6^th and 4^th respectively.

Phil Bailey was in fine form comfortably winning the M50 walk.

John Danahay won the M40 3000m and ran a perfect tactical race to leave the field trailing in the final 80 metres.

Ray Ibbs is proving to be a useful member of the team. He ran out of his age group but still finished 4^th in the M40 3000m.

Brian Eggleton threw well on a very slippery surface to finish 4^th in the M60 Javelin and Clive Howell finished 5^th in a very competitive M50 Discus competition.

Richard Barrington showed the spirit within the team. Despite having a sore heel, he volunteered to run in the 4 x 400 relay and ran a fine race to ensure that we were overall winners on the night.

This has been a very successful season where every team member has played their part. Well done to all the athletes who have competed.

The remaining fixture of the season is the ‘A’ Final to be held at Mansfield on Sunday 5^th September. We will not be at full strength due to holidays, but if everyone else turns out, we will hopefully be challenging for the Cup.

Peter Wainwright

Stoke Results

200m M40 Morris Fox                   3^rd 26.6
200m M50 Mike Warrilow              1^st 28.5
200m M60 Dave Hindley                8^th 38.3

800m M40A Chris Bourne             6^th 2.26.7
800m M40B Alan Burt                  4^th 2.32.9

2k Walk M40 Dave Hindley(M60)   2^nd 13.24.7
2k Walk M50 Phil Bailey               1^st 13.19.5
2k Walk M60 Brian Eggleton (Guest)   14.48.1

3000m M40A John Danahay           1^st 9.26.3
3000m M40B Ray Ibbs(M50)          4^th 10.39.0
3000m M60 Dave Hindley               3^rd 13.21.2

Pole Vault M40 Peter Wainwright(M50) 4^th 2.20

Javelin M60 Brian Eggleton               4^th 21.62
Javelin M40 Peter Wainwright(M50)    3^rd 37.67

Long Jump M40 Morris Fox                1^st 5.24
Long Jump M50 Mike Warrilow           1^st 4.78

Shot M40 Morris Fox                        1^st 13.11 (Midlands Record)

Discus M50 Clive Howell                   5^th 21.96

4x400 Relay
Bourne, Barrington, Burt, Danahay     5^th 4.17.6

Meeting Results                                Final League Positions

1 City of Stoke            123     9          1 City of Stoke 467    33.5
2 RSC                         117     8          2 RSC              450     33
3 C & S                         97     7          3 C & S            352     23
4 Tamworth                   91     5.5        4 Tamworth       327     22.5
4 Telford                        91    5.5         5 W & B           335     21.5
6 W & B                        75     4           6 Telford           350    19.5
7 Burton                        53     3           7 Burton           267    15
8 Shrewsbury                46      2           8 Shrewsbury   141      8