What a difference a few more athletes makes! After the disappointment of the first match when despite some great individual performances we just did not have enough bodies,
this match proved that if you fill more of the available events, you give yourself a chance of a much better team result. In particular the inclusion of a much bigger group of U20s and U17s really helped - if you are good enough, you are old enough. With a number of U17s and newcomers thrown in at the deep-end it is a bit 'all hands to the pumps', but I think there has been a realisation that if we don't have a strong senior team, we will continue to develop brilliant youngsters who just go elsewhere. 

Third place on the day was a great result and leaves the team with all to play for (except perhaps league champions) to avoid relegation.

Yet again the engine room of the men's team was in the field. Mighty throwers Martin Bartholomew and Gregg Nixon again scored highly throughout the day with 4 events for Martin and 3 for Gregg. Long Jumpers Reece Davies and Rio Bailey were event winners as were Pole Vaulters Mark and Adam Cooper, and Javelin Throwers Brett Byrd and Rob Eggleton. In the men's running events, wins were much harder to come by, but endurance runner Seb Duffy excelled with a strong run in the 3000m in horrendous rainy conditions to follow up his first match win in the 5000m.

The women also put in a much improved team performance despite missing super sprinter Chelsea Cooper, and there were great wins for Emma Jackson in the 400m A race and Eden Gibson in the Triple Jump B event.

Don't forget too that the team relies on us providing officials, who also count for team points, and any help from parents would be very much appreciated. You will certainly get a much closer view of the action - and a free lunch!.

Hopefully in the next match we can turn out these athletes plus a few more and win it at home - and perhaps the sun will shine at Northwood too!

John Danahay

Full results (Provisional)

Combined team scores
1. Birchfield 369
2. Bristol and West 350
3. City of Stoke 337
4. Charnwood 328
5. Notts AC 322
6. Mansfield 268

Men’s Match
1. City of Stoke 190
2. Birchfield 187
3. Bristol and West 178
4. Charnwood 178
5. Mansfield 124
6. Notts AC 120

Women’s Match
1. Notts AC 187
2. Birchfield 167
3. Bristol and West 157
4. Charnwood 135
5. City of Stoke 132
6. Mansfield 129

Overall League positions after 2 matches
1. Birchfield 11 - 731
2. Notts 8 - 712
3. Charnwood 7 - 657
4. Bristol and West 6 - 579
5. City of Stoke 6 - 567
6. Mansfield 4 - 587

Stoke AC results:

Men

100m
A. 6. James Gardner 11.6
B. 5. Reece Davies 11.6
Guest Runner. Tafadzwa Kadere. 11.7

200m
A. 6. Matt Scragg 23.4
B. 4. Tafadzwa Kadere 23.5

400m
A. 2. Liam Tracey 50.5
B. 5. Alex Brecker 54.7

800m
A. 2. Tom Guy 1.54.1
B. 2. Rob Cook 2.04.4

1500m
A. 6. Mike Harding 4.14.3
B. 3. Liam Hendricken 4.17.7
Guest Runner. Dave Sheldon 4.09.6

3000m
A. 1. Seb Duffy 8.39.5
B. 3. Dave Lee 9.50.0
Guest Runner. Rob Cook 10.09.3

3000m Steeplechase
A. 3. Steve Bazell 10.28.8
B. 3. Joe broome 11.43.7

110m Hurdles
A. 3. Robin Smith 15.5
B. 5. Nigel Gardner 23.9

400m Hurdles
A. 6. Steve Bazell 72.4
B. 4. Gabriel Chinuzaga 63.3

Shot
A. 2. Martin Bartholomew 14.04m
B. 1. Gregg Nixon 13.52m

Discus
A. 2. Martin Bartholomew 46.51m
B. 1. Gregg Nixon 42.11m 

Hammer
A. 4. Martin Bartholomew 41.42m
B. 3. Gregg Nixon 38.33m

Javelin
A. 1. Brett Bryd 62.63m
B. 1. Rob Eggleton 51.34m

Long Jump
A. 1. Reece Davies 6.75m
B. 1. Rio Bailey 6.50m

Triple Jump
A. 3. Martin Bartholomew 12.90m
B. 2. Rio Bailey 12.15m

High Jump
A. 3. Gabriel Chunuzaga 1.70m
B. 3. Lewis Martin 1.55m

Pole Vault
A. 1. Mark Cooper 4.00m
B. 1. Adam Cooper 3.20m

4x100m Relay
5. City of Stoke 45.8

4x400m Relay
5. City of Stoke 3.39.8


Women

100m
A. 5. Michelle Robbins 13.2
B. 4. Shelly Brace 13.8

200m
A. 4. Emma Jackson 26.3
B. 4. Shelly Brace 28.2

400m
A. 1. Emma Jackson 56.0
B. 2. Annie Holmes 61.3

800m
A. 3. Annie Holmes 2.14.8
B. 4. Lucy Hayes 2.31.2

1500m
A. 2. Kate Holt 4.38.3
B. 2. Sammy Jo Daley-Davies 5.08.8

3000m
A. 5. Clare Booker 11.42.3
B. No competitor

100m Hurdles
A. No competitor
B. No competitor

400m Hurdles
A. 2. Elizabeth Billington 74.4
B. No competitor

Shot
A. 3. Katie Gardner 9.13m
B. 3. Hayley Clowes 8.15m

Discus
A. 5. Elizabeth Nicholls 25.71m
B. No competitor

Hammer
A. 6. Clare Booker 14.16m
B. No competitor

Javelin
A. 2. Olga Kotmilosi 35.55m
B. 3. Katie Gardner 25.16m

Long Jump
A. 3. Paige Machin 5.23m
B. 3. Eden Gibson 4.80m

Triple Jump
A. 4. Michelle Robbins 11.37m
B. 1. Eden Gibson 9.59m

High Jump
A. 5. Paige Machin 1.30m
B. 4. Elizabeth Billington 1.30m

Pole Vault
A. No competitor
B. No competitor  

4x100m Relay
3. City of Stoke AC 52.4

4x400m Relay
1. City of Stoke AC 4.00.9