Rosenheim League Eastern Division Match 4, Battersea Park
Another tight men's match which could have gone either way between Herne Hill Harriers and Belgrave. In fact there was just one point in it with the 4 x 200m relay to go where at the end of the first lap the two teams were side by side. Belgrave's incoming Pierre Walker, who had been in action since the beginning of the meeting, helping to set up the electric timing equipment, overstretched in handing over the baton and tweaked a calf muscle which had him and the baton hitting the deck. While the baton was being retrieved the Herne Hill team got away by 15 metres but by the end of the race it was back to just two metres. Exciting stuff as a Belgrave win here would have meant a drawn match. As it was, Herne Hill prevailed by just two points.
Things were more clear cut in the women's competition where the Belles dropped only one point to score 29 out of a maximum possible 30 - but they still need to win both remaining matches to catch the Serpies. New faces in the team were Jude Turner a cricketer (bowler) and netball player turning her arm to the javelin with good effect, Sandra Alaneme, a prodigious triple jumper, and young Sandra Dike, who ran the 100m and was delighted to be part of a winning relay team.
Many thanks to all the officials who assisted. It was an extremely busy match with so many sprinters taking advantage of the electric timing. Particular thanks to Don Anderson and his team who set up the timing equipment with very little lead time - and just about avoided getting locked in the Park for the night four hours later.
Men. 100: 2 P Bammodu U20 11.33/0.4; n/s 3r3 P Walker 11.66/0.4; 5r3 B Davies 12.60/0.4; 1r6: 1 R Ffrench-Shand 11.15/0.1. 200: 4 A Williams U20 24.22/1.2 n/s 6r2 R McMillan 29.11/1.1; 1r3 R Ffrench-Shand 22.63/nwi; 4r3 B Davies 25.10/nwi; 1r4 P Walker 23.51/0.4. 400: 2 V Woodham-Smith U20 53.83; n/s 4r1 C Minn 54.24; 6r1 W Ireson 57.37; 6r2 R McMillan 64.50; 8r2 E Adu-Baah 68.35. 800: 1 P Owor 1:59.61; n/s 2r1 M Trees M45 2:10.6 5r1 W Ireson 2:17.4; 2r2 L Eguia 2:12.40. 1500: 1 P Owor 4:08.44; n/s 4 M Kiralyfi 4:20.82; 7 L Eguia 4:31.68; n/s 1r1 S Kollmorgen 4:42.60; 4r1 A Luce M45 4:50.54; 5r1 B Barton M45 4:51.74; 7r1 T O’Neill M55 5:04.38. 3000: 1 P Owor 8:57.93; n/s 8 M Trees M45 9:21.55 16 C Dickinson M60 10:55.7*; * = manual time. 400H: 4 S Lamb 65.13. 4x200: 2 Belgrave 1:38.98. TJ: 1 D Wellstead 13.20. PV: no competitor. SP (7.26kg): 1 C Privett M50 10.22; n/s P Mayfield 10.44. JT (800g): 1 P Mayfield 41.16; n/s D Wellstead 38.98; C Privett 33.68.
Match result: 1 Herne Hill H 61; 2 Belgrave H 59; 3 Hercules Wimbledon AC 48; 4 Croydon H 27; 5 Serpentine R 25; 6 Striders of Croydon 12.
Positions after four matches: 1 Herne Hill H 22 (221); 2 Belgrave H 20 (219); 3 Croydon H 15 (155); 4 Hercules Wimbledon AC 12 (150); 5 Serpentine R 8 (91); 6 Striders of Croydon 7 (77).
Women. 100 n/s 3r1 A Onuora 12.65/0.4; 2r2 S Dike U17 13.89/nwi. 200: 4 A Onuora 26.14/0.0. 800: 6 M Noel W45 2:58.69. 4x200: 1 Belgrave 1:53.96. TJ: 1 S Alaneme 11.52. JT (600g): 1 J Favell 31.71; n/s J Turner 32.34.
Match result: 1 Belgrave H 29; 2 Serpentine R 21; 3 Herne Hill H 11; 4 Croydon H 5; 5 Striders of Croydon 4.
Positions after four matches: 1 Serpentine R 21.5 (83); 2 Belgrave H 20 (85); 3 Croydon H 14 (38); 4 Herne Hill H 9 (23); 5 Striders of Croydon 7 (19); 6 Hercules Wimbledon AC 6.5 (21).
Restored from the club's earlier website, belgraveharriers.com, and published here as originally written.