2XU Men's Surrey Cross Country League, Ham Lands near Kingston

All Our Yesterdays

Our team bore a strong resemblance to that which used to turn out in the '90s. Old timers Mike Webb, Bruce Barton, Phil Carstairs and Charlie Dickinson were all scoring nigh on two decades ago - and some of them still were today! It was great to see Jim Estall back in the Belgrave fold and he also would have scored had he not been in the process of restoring his Belgrave credentials after a sojourn with Dulwich Runners. Just to complete the line-up - even 'Gerry' Adams was present, albeit in his fire-fighting gear and having arrived by fire engine.

But there was young blood too - and weren't we glad of it as we cemented our position inside the top half of the division. Captain Phil Wicks easily had the measure of the field, building up a good lead in the muddy conditions but giving a substantial amount of that lead away as he slowed to greet a dog that was keen to welcome him home. Paskar Owor had come on considerably in the week since his return from Uganda so with 1 and 4 we were set for a much better score than our previous league outing. Paskar leads the individual competition and as long as he turns out in the final match, should win the trophy.

Picking up after a dose of 'flu' Chris Sweeney was in the late teens, overtaken in the last few strides by a Cockerpillar who was none too keen on the possibility of 'only' being fourth man home. Lander Eguia and Mike Trees supported admirably and our team fortunes were restored.

Indeed, it looks unlikely that positions 1 to 6 in the league will change much now; but with one match to go and only 45 points covering places 7 to 9, the drop will be faced by any two of Dorking, Reigate and Epsom.

Seniors & U20. 1 P Wicks (Belgrave) 27:19; 2 P Rogers (Reigate P) 27:33; 3 J McMullen (Thames H&H) 27:44; 4 P Owor 27:57; 18 W Cockerell 29:31; 19 C Sweeney M40 29:33; 32 L Eguia 30:08; 57 M Trees M45 31:26; 71 J Estall M50 31:57; 73 M Webb M40 31:58; 84 J Webb M40 32:35; 93 B Barton 33:00; 100 R Norville 33:21; 113 K Hegvold M45 33:59; 120 W Ireson 34:11; 123 P Carstairs M50 34:21; 126 T Thorn 34:33; 144 C Dickinson M60 35:35; 169 P Marsh M60 38:24; 181 P Bogues 41:52; 184 H Corbett M50 42:03; 186 finished.

Teams:

1 Herne Hill H (7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 21, 23, 25, 27, 30) 175 - 1st overall with 493.

2 Thames H&H ( 3, 11, 12, 22, 24, 26, 28, 33, 34, 36) - 2nd 593.

3 Hercules Wimbledon AC ( 5, 6, 13, 14, 17, 38, 39, 44, 46, 53) 275 - 3rd 1081.

4 Belgrave H (1, 4, 18, 19, 32, 50, 62, 69, 74, 78) 407 - 4th 1431.

5 The Stragglers (35, 37, 41, 48, 51, 56, 67, 70, 73, 76) 554 - 6th 1644.

6 Dorking & Mole Valley (16, 29, 49, 60, 63, 66, 68, 80, 81, 82) 594 - 7th 1804.

7 Reigate Priory AC (2, 43, 52, 54, 58, 59, 83, 84, 85, 89) 609 - 8th 1847.

8 South London H (40, 42, 45, 55, 64, 65, 72, 75, 77, 79) 614 - 5th 1544.

9 Epsom & Ewell H (20, 31, 47, 57, 61, 71, 86, 87, 88, 90) 638 - 9th 1849.

Restored from the club's earlier website, belgraveharriers.com, and published here as originally written.