Men's British Athletics League Division One - 2002: Match 2, Birmingham

World Champs qualifier for Mick Jones - 76.43m hammer throw!

League lead opens up for the Bels.

We approached Match 2 determined to extend our winning margin but mindful that Newham in second spot could spring some surprises. After all, it was this match last year which saw Newham hand us an unexpected defeat.

But as we looked at the Table after Match 1 we also noted that Birchfield, Sale and Shaftesbury were filling the minor placings along with relegation certainty Blackheath. Birchfield are always dangerous at home and no doubt would rectify their poor Match 1 result. As for Woodford Green we would be interested to see if their Match 1 performances had been a flash in the pan or the start of a realistic attempt not only to remain in Division 1 but also to finish in the top half.

Coming one week after the European Clubs we wondered how many of our Madrid team would make this one. Fortunately most of them. In the opening track event Chris Rawlinson lined up in the A 400m hurdles determined to sort out his hurdle 7 change down problems. Unfortunately for him the difficulties remained. Fortunately for us he got the winning start we expected. Not so in the B where 17 year old Andrew Bennett stood up out of the blocks and ambled round some 3 seconds below his recent best. It then transpired that he had included 10 sausages in an over large breakfast and wondered why he didn't feel too good!

It was good to welcome Andrew Walcott and Chris Lambert back in the sprints. Andrew disappointed himself and us in the 100m and went home feeling unwell. But Chris had a good return after an injury induced absence of over a year and Graham Beasley acquitted himself well in the 200m after his exciting debut for us in Madrid.

But, once again it was the middle distance men who provided the backbone of a big score. Neil Speaight, gaining in confidence with every race was unlikely to repeat the error of Match 1. Timing a fierce sprint perfectly he overhauled Shone of Woodford sufficiently far ahead of the tape to allow us to be well impressed. And then Adam Zawadsky did the same in the B - maximum points in the 800m.

Steve Sharp making his debut 1500m for us did exactly the same as he slid through the field having been badly boxed with 200m to go. Spencer Barden who had led most of the race finished second in the combined race and won the B - maximum points in the 1500m.

And in the 5000m, we were treated to the most exciting of finishes with Paul Freary chasing a 60m deficit at the bell to catch and pass Kyereme of Shaftesbury, who died the death and dropped to 5th. Paul has been concentrating on 1500m recently posting a 3.51 effort and his extra pace and stamina showed in this one. Alaster Stewart also ran sensibly and gained near maximum points finishing second in the B.

And the steeplechase - well we will forget about that!

You will have noticed that Matt Douglas did not compete in the 400 hurdles, but he was there gaining valuable points in the long jump, high jump and both relays. Not exactly relaxing but very enjoyable. Matt's mucker, Geoff Dearman, was also another returning athlete and got back to winning ways in the B flat 400m, but in the A event, Sean Baldock in lane 8 had an average run and was well beaten by Jared Deacon of Border. We noted with some satisfaction that the 400, 800, 1500 and 5000m had contributed a massive 108 to our points score. Excellent points too in the hammer with both Mick and Dave over 70m but with Mick putting together the best series of his life to eventually reach 76.43 - a world championship B qualifying distance. He didn't need reminding of this but it was nice of UK Athletics CE - Dave Moorcroft - to come across and congratulate Dave and his family who attended in force and worked the magic.

Back from the injury that prevented an appearance in Madrid, Lee Newman won the A shot with Scott Thompson second in the B. Almost as good were the points in the discus with Kevin Brown and Scott Thompson. Valuable points in the javelin too from Wesley Smith and the ubiquitous Scott who had delayed leaving the stadium due to notice of train problems at New Street Station. A Belgrave vest over street attire plus a pair of trainers were the only clues that this man had been press ganged to fill a javelin slot just minutes before making his escape.

Good to see Farel Mepandy back and getting silver in the triple jump and great to welcome new signing Charles Lefrancois, who is just returning to high jump competition after a layoff of several years due to serious injury. Better points in the pole vault, with a first time appearance in the senior A team by Scotland based Ian MacKenzie, backing up the ever reliable Ian Tullett.

And so to the results after a second place in the sprint relay and an easy win in the long relay. There we were, some 56 points clear of Birchfield with Woodford Green again third - a result sufficient to move them up to second spot after 2 matches, just 17 match points ahead of Birchfield. Newham had many disappointments and finished, for them, a disappointing 5th. But the big surprise was that Sale finished seventh and now occupy that position in the league just ahead of last placed Blackheath.

Unless they extract something, Sale could be relegated, which for a Club that won the league 4 years ago, is unthinkable.

Teams: 1 Belgrave H 377; 2 Birchfield H 321; 3 Woodford Green with Essex Ladies AC 307; 4 Shaftesbury Barnet H 264; 5 Newham & Essex Beagles 255; 6 Border H 230; 7 Sale H Manchester 209; 8 Blackheath 209.

100m: 7 A.Wallcott 10.94/2.1; 2 C.Lambert 10.61/3.6. 200m: 4 G.Beasley 21.37/0.9; 2 C.Lambert 21.38/4.1. 400m: 2 S.Baldock 47.66; 1 G.Dearman 48.08. 800m: 1 N.Speaight 1:50.71; 1 A Zawadsky 1:53.42. 1500m: 1 S.Sharp 3:53.25; 1 S.Barden 3:53.45. 5000m: 1 P.Freary 14:40.1; 2 A.Stewart 15:09.59. 110mH: 4 N.Owen 14.19/1.3; 3 R.Sear 14.43/4.0. 400mH: 1 C.Rawlinson 50.57; 7 A.Bennett 57.48. 3000mSC: no Belgrave competitors. HJ: 4 C.le Francois 2.05; 5 M.Douglas 1.85. LJ: 2 J.Flynn 7.13; 3 M.Douglas 6.64. TJ: 2 F.Mepandy 15.18; 4 J.Flynn 14.17. PV: 2 I.Tullett 4.80; 2 I.Mackenzie 4.20. SP: 1 L.Newman 17.39; 2 S.Thompson 14.24. DT: 5 K.Brown 50.83; 1 S.Thompson 47.62. JT: 6 W.Smith 58.50; 4 S.Thompson 47.45. HT: 1 M.Jones 76.43; 1 D.Smith 70.86. 4x100m: 2 Belgrave 41.72 (C.Lambert, D.Chin, G.Beasley, M.Douglas). 4x400m: 1 Belgrave 3:12.02 (M.Douglas, G.Dearman, T.Bayley, S.Baldock).

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