Women's Surrey Cross Country League, Division 2, Match 3, Coulsdon

Will Cockerell writes:- After some half-dozen Belles fell away, the TM awoke on Saturday to only 3 yesses... trouble! Was this to be our unravelling as all our rivals would come roaring back? Not a bit of it. Some old favourites confirmed during the morning and we were delighted to welcome another of this term's promising debutantes in Sarah Lichtensteiger, who veered unwisely close to the TM last Sunday for her afternoon exercise on the Common, and was duly pounced on by the hawk.

THH's Lucy MacAlister was a class apart. At one stage the TM resorted to lying horizontally across her path in an attempt to slow her but that only earned a coquettish giggle and a neat shimmy to the left. Anyway, not our division, not our problem (yet). Considering how many big guns we were missing, we packed beautifully here. Find of this season - any season perhaps - Fee is now four great runs out of four, and still the business end of the season to come. Nellie all but cried off with a bug, but decided to give it a go - we're so glad - she rocked.

Tilly is really finding her groove and secured a nuggety top 10, and Anne looked much comfier than at the counties. Vicki closed us in smoothly before handing round gorgeous choc cake baked by her local resident Pa, and she was pushed hard by Rieko and Maureen who both looked in fine fettle. Our debutante Sarah, totally new to the unique world of club athletics, started sensibly and picked off several in part two. Her stride is tidy, and she will kick on from here, especially when she joins 'Charlie's Angels'.

A strong showing from Epsom Oddballs nicked us on the day by 7 points, but our lead at the top of the table grew, and we're now a massive 260 points inside the promotion zone.

Women 8.5 k. 1 E Alden (Epsom &E) 33:17; 5 F Maycock 35:56; 7 N Quispel 36:43; 10 M Heaton 36:53; 12 A Hegvold 37:23; 27 V Goodwin 40:40; 39 R Trees 42:00, 44 M Noel 42:28; 56 S Lichtensteiger 44:03.

Teams: 1 Epsom Oddballs 54; 2 Belgrave H 61; 3 Runnymede 120; 4 Walton 139, 5 Striders of Croydon 175; ... 18 Belgrave B 453; from 36 teams.

Overall: 1 Belgrave H 156; 2 Epsom Oddballs 343; 3 Runnymede R 429; 4 Walton 416; 5 Striders of Croydon 528; ... 19 Belgrave B 1413; from 46 teams.

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