Men's British Athletics League Division One - 2003: Match 1, Eton

1 Belgrave H 342; 2 Newham & Essex Beagles 304; 3 Woodford Green wEL 300; 4 Birchfield H 293; 5 Shaftesbury Barnet H 242; 6 Sale H Manchester 242; 7 Windsor SE&H 227; 8 Trafford AC 223.

BAL blast-off amidst fixtures chaos

One week to midsummer's day; temperatures hovering in the mid 20's and here we were at the first Div 1 League match of the year. Has the fixtures supremo gone mad? Well yes. Because on the same day the BMC organised a series of paced middle distance races, The AAA's ran it's middle distance U20 and U23 Championships, UK Athletics held a National sprint relay squad training camp and AAA's of England had taken a team to Latvia.

The atmosphere among the team managers trying to get the League off to a decent start was one of increasing frustration and suppressed anger as this joint fixture with the women's league got under way. The timetable started at 11.00am with the pole vault and discus, while the track started at 12.00a.m with the 400H followed by the 800. The discus was thought to be problematic with Kevin Brown, having his first comp after injury, up against 21 year old Scot Thompson. Together they managed two seconds to gain bonus points. Then Matt Douglas ran to a storming win in the A 400H, setting the third fastest time by a GB athlete this year, only to be frustrated by the electric clock failing to stop as he crossed the line in the mid 49.8's. Paul Beaumont called up as a late replacement for Noel Levy broke the club vets record in finishing fifth in the B event. He was later drafted into the B 400 when Michael Parper failed to toe the line having reported a tight hamstring.

The 800 saw a welcome return to these shores by Alasdair McLean Foreman, who although still jetlagged ran a very respectable 1.51.33 to gain fourth in the A race. Inter Counties Champion Tim Bayley had equally tough competition in the B race giving too much space to Matt Shone who is also a fast finisher. But more good points and after 3 events we were well ahead of our points predictions. Then to the 100 where in the A event Lawrence Oboh's blocks slipped but Dan Donovan made amends by winning the B in his first race for the club on home shores. At this point it became clear that we were not getting wind readings - a situation that frustratingly persisted all afternoon- and prevented us from knowing just how strong the head winds were for the sprinters.

Then to the hammer, later in the programme than usual, where John Osazuwa made a welcome return ensuring he and Mick Jones walked off with near maximum points. And on the track we were about to get our only maximum points (and in the steeplechase too) with Martin Dent breaking the Stadium record and Kevin Nash recording his third sub 9 minute clocking of the year. What a change in fortune for Kevin and so fully deserved after a period of hard training. (And he filled the B 1500 slot to back up Spencer Barden who was also out kicked by Matt Shone to finish third in the A 1500).

By now the Belgrave supporters were beginning to relax and enjoy the spectacle as the lead stretched to 20 points. Next up one of the closest races of the afternoon the 110H which the strong headwind failed to upset. Dominic Girdler finished a brilliant second to Damien Grieves but had the satisfaction of gaining Chris Baillie's scalp by the narrowest of margins. Dominic later achieved star status by running the last leg of the long relay in an official split time of 47.4 as he chased Iwan Thomas (Newham) and Chris Rawlinson (Trafford). Not bad for someone who does no endurance work- or so he claimed! And noteworthy too was the 47.6 split of Tim Bayley running his first one lapper since moving up to the 800. We won't mention the flat 400 except to say that Dan Donovan stepped in at the last moment in to what was a hot A race won in 46.86 by Mark Brown of Newham.

With wins for Tim Abeyie in the A 200 and Stuart Faben in the A javelin plus a terrific 2.10 high jump from Samson Oni we moved to an invincible lead sustained by good points in the shot and triple jump. A special mention for Scot Thompson who has made that big step from the junior ranks to compete with great credit in three of the throws where he was rewarded with a 5m pb in the javelin.

All in all another great team effort boosted by a tremendous spirit of camaraderie and enthusiasm from athletes and supporters alike led by our number one supporter Sir Eddie.

100m: A (nt) 1 N.Smith (Shaftesbury B) 10.57; 2 M.Miah (Woodford GwEL) 10.59; 3 D.Ladejo (Birchfield) 10.61; 4 D.Plummer (Newham &EB) 10.63; 5 K.Ellis (Trafford) 10.80; 6 Laurence Oboh U20 (Belgrave) 10.95; 7 P.Mukamana (Sale HM) 10.98; 8 M.Holloway (Windsor SE&H) 11.05.
B (nt) 1 Dan Donovan (Belgrave) 10.77; 2 A.Matthews (Windsor SE&H) 10.83; 3 R.Moseley (Shaftesbury B) 10.85; 4 M.Tietz (Birchfield) 10.87; 5 M.Thomas (Newham &EB) 10.90; 6 U.Ugono (Woodford GwEL) 10.96; 7 G.Jones (Sale HM) 10.98; 8 L.Baird (Trafford) 11.45.

200m: A (?) 1 Tim Abeyie (Belgrave) 21.47; 2 D.Plummer (Newham &EB) 21.60; 3 A.Potter (Woodford GwEL) 21.93; 4 R.Moseley (Shaftesbury B) 22.01; 6 G.Jones (Sale HM) 22.12; 7 M.Holloway (Windsor SE&H) 22.27; 8 D.Scott (Trafford) 22.57.
B 1 I.Thomas (Newham &EB) 21.76; 2 Marlon Dickson (Belgrave) 21.82; 3 D.Hough (Shaftesbury B) 21.99; 4 A.Matthews (Windsor SE&H) 22.07; 5 U.Ugono (Woodford GwEL) 22.48; 6 P.Mukamana (Sale HM) 22.57; 7 K.Ellis (Trafford) 22.59; 8 T.Gutner (Birchfield) 23.21.

400m: A 1 M.Brown (Newham &EB) 46.86; 2 G.Hedman (Woodford GwEL) 47.09; 3 M.Hylton (Windsor SE&H) 47.14; 4 D.Hough (Shaftesbury B) 47.97; 5 S.Plaskitt (Trafford) 47.99; 6 I.Lowthian (Sale HM) 48.21; 7 Dan Donovan (Belgrave) 48.36; 8 N.Budden (Birchfield) 49.00.
B 1 M.Audu (Woodford GwEL) 47.15; 2 A.Steele (Trafford) 47.67; 3 A.Borsumato (Sale HM) 48.06; 4 G.Djan (Birchfield) 49.40; 5 A.Gordon (Newham &EB) 49.48; 6 R.Morgan (Windsor SE&H) 50.02; 7 G.McEwan (Shaftesbury B) 50.38; 8 Paul Beaumont M40 (Belgrave) 54.19.

800m: A 1 C.Reynolds (Woodford GwEL) 1:50.88; 2 A.Salisbury (Trafford) 1:51.05; 3 S.Bailey (Sale HM) 1:51.23; 4 Alasdair McLean-Foreman (Belgrave) 1:51.33; 5 R.McDonald (Shaftesbury B) 1:51.48; 6 B.Whitby (Windsor SE&H) 1:52.77; 7 B.Cook (Birchfield) 1:54.66; 8 L.Crispen (Newham &EB) 1:59.84.
B 1 M.Shone (Woodford GwEL) 1:52.22; 2 Tim Bayley (Belgrave) 1:52.54; 3 S.Overall (Windsor SE&H) 1:53.33; 4 G.Cuddy (Sale HM) 1:54.43; 5 J.Trapmore (Shaftesbury B) 1:55.50; 6 R.Workman (Trafford) 1:57.03; 7 R.Cox (Birchfield) 1:57.27; 8 S.Rider (Newham &EB) 2:03.47.

1500m: A 1 M.Shone (Woodford GwEL) 3:50.46; 2 S.Bailey (Sale HM) 3:50.50; 3 Spencer Barden (Belgrave) 3:51.50; 4 S.Overall (Windsor SE&H) 3:51.98; 5 I.Murdoch (Birchfield) 3:52.92; 6 O.Laws (Newham &EB) 3:55.06; 7 S.Murphy (Shaftesbury B) 3:57.10; 8 T.Egerton (Trafford) 4:00.79.
B 1 C.Bannon (Windsor SE&H) 3:54.67; 2 S.North (Sale HM) 3:54.86; 3 M.Davies (Woodford GwEL) 3:57.17; 4 J.Trapmore (Shaftesbury B) 3:58.14; 5 A.Robinson (Newham &EB) 4:00.77; 6 I.Salisbury (Trafford) 4:05.36; 7 A.Swearman (Birchfield) 4:05.55; 8 Kevin Nash (Belgrave) 4:09.84; 9 A.Ali (Newham &EB gst) 4:19.67.

5000m: A 1 S.Haughian (Windsor SE&H) 14:35.32; 2 G.Raven (Sale HM) 14:42.06; 3 P.Hinch (Birchfield) 14:45.40; 4 P.Grime (Newham &EB) 14:45.95; 5 A.Renfree (Shaftesbury B) 15:11.06; 6 Will Cockerell (Belgrave) 15:14.12; 7 M.Rush (Trafford) 15:19.90; 8 A.Coleman (Woodford GwEL) 17:17.64.
B 1 G.Cornish (Sale HM) 15:13.18; 2 A.Swearman (Birchfield) 15:17.31; 3 A.Magnall (Shaftesbury B) 15:20.35; 4 Hassan Raidi (Belgrave) 15:25.95; 5 P.Wicks (Windsor SE&H) 15:28.44; 6 N.Adams (Newham &EB) 15:50.22; 7 M.Murray (Trafford) 16:14.62; 8 B.Wootton (Woodford GwEL) 18:27.74.

3000mSC: A 1 Martin Dent (Belgrave) 8:45.42; 2 A.Franklin (Trafford) 8:50.48; 3 J.Sear (Woodford GwEL) 9:23.26; 4 E.Malloch (Shaftesbury B) 9:27.01; 5 G.Taylor (Windsor SE&H) 9:55.10; 6 J.Bailey (Sale HM) 10:00.89; 7 S.Major (Newham &EB) 10:04.29.
B 1 Kevin Nash (Belgrave) 8:56.00; 2 R.Lee (Windsor SE&H) 9:56.40; 3 C.Crawford (Shaftesbury B) 10:20.98; 4 L.Crispen (Newham &EB) 11:13.82.

110mH: A (nt) 1 D.Greaves (Newham &EB) 14.01; 2 Dominic Girdler (Belgrave) 14.13; 3 C.Baillie (Birchfield) 14.14; 4 A.Scott (Shaftesbury B) 14.44; 5 J.Heanley (Windsor SE&H) 15.27; 6 P.Monoghan (Sale HM) 15.43; 7 S.Alexander (Trafford) 16.48.
B (nt) 1 D.Malins (Newham &EB) 14.24; 2 Matt Douglas (Belgrave) 14.64; 3 B.McConville (Woodford GwEL) 15.37; 4 G.Dunson (Shaftesbury B) 15.45; 5 C.McKay (Windsor SE&H) 15.89; 6 R.Gascoyne (Sale HM) 16.00; 7 I.Scholes (Trafford) 18.71.

400mH: A 1 Matt Douglas 49.9*; 2 A.Borsumato (Sale HM) 51.0*; 3 B.Yiend (Birchfield) 51.4*; 4 R.Scott (Woodford GwEL) 52.53; 5 R.Smith (Newham &EB) 52.98; 6 J.Lee (Windsor SE&H) 54.05; 7 G.Lammie (Shaftesbury B) 55.22; 8 C.Ball (Trafford) 58.47. * manual times.
B 1 R.Gardener (Newham &EB) 53.72; 2 A.Clements (Windsor SE&H) 54.66; 3 R.Gascoyne (Sale HM) 55.00; 4 G.Dunson (Shaftesbury B) 56.18; 5 Paul Beaumont M40 (Belgrave) 57.19 (M40 CR); 6 D.Scott (Trafford) 57.27; 7 L.Okoroafo (Woodford GwEL) 57.63.

4x100m: 1 Newham &EB 41.26; 2 Belgrave 41.56 (Tim Abeyie, Laurence Oboh, Marlon Dickson, Dominic Girdler); 3 Shaftesbury B 41.74; 4 Birchfield 41.81; 5 Windsor SE&H 41.92; 6 Trafford 42.38; 7 Woodford GwEL 42.58; 8 Sale HM 42.60.

4x400m: 1 Newham &EB 3:11.82; 2 Trafford 3:13.00; 3 Belgrave 3:13.47 (Matt Douglas 48.6, Tim Bayley 47.6, Dan Donovan 49.9, Dominic Girdler 47.4); 4 Woodford GwEL 3:13.85; 5 Windsor SE&H 3:21.00; 6 Birchfield 3:24.53; dq Shaftesbury B.

High Jump: A 1 D.Grant (Woodford GwEL) 2.22; 2 P.De Pape (Birchfield) 2.15; =3 Sampson Oni (Belgrave) 2.10; =3 I.Holliday (Sale HM) 2.10; 5 J.van Heerden (Newham &EB) 2.00; 6 B.Smith (Shaftesbury B) 1.95; 7 B.Shiel (Windsor SE&H) 1.85; 8 S.Alexander (Trafford) 1.80.
B 1 B.McConville (Woodford GwEL) 2.00; =2 D.Stone (Shaftesbury B) 1.90; =2 D.Plank (Birchfield) 1.90; 4 G.Plunkett (Sale HM) 1.90; 5 James Tuson (Belgrave) 1.90; 6 J.Heanley (Windsor SE&H) 1.80; 7 I.Salisbury (Trafford) 1.40.

Long Jump: A 1 J.Moore (Birchfield) 7.51; 2 A.Hall (Woodford GwEL) 7.36; 3 C.Davidson 7.05; 4 O.Akinsanya (Trafford) 6.97; 5 Julian Flynn (Belgrave) 6.92/1.9; 6 L.Achike (Shaftesbury B) 6.70; 7 J.Hilton (Sale HM) 6.49; 8 J.Heanley (Windsor SE&H) 6.38.
B 1 N.Dowsett (Woodford GwEL) 7.07; 2 L.Smith (Birchfield) 6.83; 3 O.Baptist (Shaftesbury B) 6.61; 4 P.Ralph (Trafford) 6.58; 5 James Tuson (Belgrave) 6.55/1.2; 6 N.Thomas (Newham &EB) 6.55; 7 G.Plunkett (Sale HM) 6.33; 8 M.Rossiter (Windsor SE&H) 1.34.

Triple Jump: A 1 T.Oke (Woodford GwEL) 15.94; 2 O.Akinsanya (Trafford) 15.76; 3 J.Golley (Windsor SE&H) 15.34; 4 Seni Majekodunmi (Belgrave) 14.74; 5 P.Ferdinand (Birchfield) 14.55; 6 C.Madeira Cole (Newham &EB) 14.15;7 J.Hilton (Sale HM) 13.50; 8 M.Corrigan (Shaftesbury B) 13.32.
B 1 M.McKernan (Birchfield) 14.53; 2 P.Ralph (Trafford) 14.17; 3 S.Ojo (Woodford GwEL) 13.84; 4 David Wellstead (Belgrave) 13.63; 5 J.Heanley (Windsor SE&H) 13.52; 6 O.Baptist (Shaftesbury B) 12.68.

Pole Vault: A 1 S.Simpson (Birchfield) 5.10; 2 M.Beharrell (Sale HM) 5.00; 3 I.Tullett (Shaftesbury B) 4.90; 4 Ben Flint (Belgrave) 4.90; 5 C.North (Woodford GwEL) 4.90; 6 C.Mills (Windsor SE&H) 4.70; 7 A.Richardson (Trafford) 4.70; 8 K.Highes (Newham &EB) 4.50.
B 1 B.McConville (Woodford GwEL) 4.50; =2 I.Noble (Trafford) 4.30; =2 R.O'Briain (Shaftesbury B) 4.30; 4 P.Miles (Birchfield) 4.15; 5 J.Heanley (Windsor SE&H) 4.15; 6 S.Herbert (Newham &EB) 3.40; nhc Paul Williamson (Belgrave).

Shot: A 1 S.Rider (Birchfield) 17.78; 2 M.Proctor (Newham &EB) 17.70; 3 B.Kelly (Trafford) 16.07; 4 Scot Thompson (Belgrave) 15.43; 5 M.Wiseman (Sale HM) 14.63; 6 A.Soalla-Bell (Shaftesbury B) 14.08; 7 A.Sawyer (Woodford GwEL) 13.29; 8 S.Sammut (Windsor SE&H) 10.52.
B 1 I.McMullan (Trafford) 15.44; 2 Greg Beard (Belgrave) 15.38; 3 S.Litton Hayes (Newham &EB) 15.18; 4 D.Sawson (Birchfield) 14.07; 5 G.Plunkett (Sale HM) 12.78; 6 R.Robinson (Woodford GwEL) 11.79; 7 N.Thompson (Shaftesbury B) 11.12; 8 E.Lake (Windsor SE&H) 9.52.

Discus: A 1 G.Smith (Birchfield) 55.05; 2 Scot Thompson (Belgrave) 51.58; 3 M.Wiseman (Sale HM) 51.04; 4 B.Kelly (Trafford) 49.53; 5 N.Thompson (Shaftesbury B) 47.76; 6 M.Proctor (Newham &EB) 46.44; 7 A.Sawyer (Woodford GwEL) 39.08; 8 S.Sammut (Windsor SE&H) 36.81.
B 1 Kevin Brown (Belgrave) 50.81; 2 S.Rider (Birchfield) 50.76; 3 S.Litton Hayes (Newham &EB) 45.83; 4 A.Soalla-Bell (Shaftesbury B) 44.03; 5 R.Bate (Trafford) 42.69; 6 R.Robinson (Woodford GwEL) 38.25; 7 G.Plunkett (Sale HM) 37.89; 8 E.lake (Windsor SE&H) 29.57.

Javelin: A 1 Stuart Faben (Belgrave) 70.66; 2 J.Lundman 64.96; 3 N.Bevan (Birchfield) 64.22; 4 G.Plunkett 63.97; 5 T.Smith (Shaftesbury B) 63.96; 6 P.Howard (Woodford GwEL) 57.30; 7 A.Clements (Windsor SE&H) 54.81; 8 P.Ostapawycz (Trafford) 46.66.
B 1 T.Dobbing (Newham &EB) 64.23; 2 M.Tarran (Birchfield) 56.47; 3 Scot Thompson (Belgrave) 55.03; 4 M.Wiseman (Sale HM) 50.10; 5 P.Cooper (Woodford GwEL) 50.01; 6 P.Scott (Windsor SE&H) 42.89; 7 C.Hughff (Trafford) 41.77; 8 C.Walsh (Shaftesbury B) 39.09.

Hammer: A 1 Mike Jones (Belgrave) 71.89; 2 W.Beauchamp (Newham &EB) 68.14; 3 M.Floyd (Sale HM) 64.63; 4 C.Howe (Woodford GwEL) 62.07; 5 S.Peacock (Birchfield) 59.33; 6 S.Sammut (Windsor SE&H) 59.28; 7 R.Bate (Trafford) 50.80; 8 N.Thompson (Shaftesbury B) 40.87.
B 1 S.Brown (Newham &EB) 61.92; 2 John Osazuwa (Belgrave) 55.60; 3 M.Bell (Birchfield) 52.77; 4 A.James (Windsor SE&H) 48.96; 5 K.Khan (Sale HM) 48.36; 6 F.Harford (Woodford GwEL) 37.27; 7 D.Martin (Trafford) 28.47; - A.Frost (gst) 67.35.

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