BAL 3rd Round
Woodford Green’s Men’s team produced another emphatic win in the 3rd fixture of the British League National Division One, and thereby confirmed their immediate return to the Premier Division with one fixture remaining. Woodford scored 384.5 points ahead of Glasgow on 303, Blackheath on 289.5 and Herne Hill on 284.5. Woodford lead the league table with 24 points from Glasgow on 21, who are similarly assured of Premier Division action next season. Kent are in 3rd with 12 points and with Gateshead in 8th on 8 points any two of the non-promoted clubs could end being relegated at the final fixture at Lee Valley on August 9th. Woodford had 14 event wins including 5 “A” and “B” doubles, which were led off by Andy Frost’s hammer win.
Unsurprisingly, the meeting was affected by rain at various times during the afternoon, but thankfully the winds were not too strong and the temperatures were reasonably warm. Scotland’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games representative Andy Frost got things underway winning the hammer with 69.61m. He was ably backed up by young Harry Clark in his first BAL competition, who after a bit of a scare with his first two efforts being no-throws ended up winning the ‘B” string with 55.58m. The discus and shot brought similar double wins. Tom Norman, selected for England’s team for Glasgow and in the midst of a block of heavy training, interrupted that to win the “A” with 52.08m and Chris Linque took the “B’ with 48.27. Competing as a guest in that event Devon Douglas recorded 46.40m. Anthony Oshodi took the ‘A” shot with 16.54m and Youcef Zatat the “B” with 15.68. The field also produced another double, in the high jump where Robert Wolski took the “A “with 2.10m and Jack Lochans the “B” with 2.00m. Dan Gardner was pleased to record his first BAL win for Woodford as he cleared 4.90m in the Pole Vault, with veteran Paul Howard gaining useful “B” points with 2.60m for 5=. Paul later placed 4th in the javelin with 49.74m, and in the “B” in the absence of another specialist Devon Douglas filled in with 31.23m for 6th. The long jump saw Joseph Dewar 5th in 6.78m – his only valid attempt of the competition with Adrian Stamp 3rd in the “B” with 6.61m. In the triple jump Peter Karibo was 6th with 13.68m, well below his normal standard, but unfortunately was injured in the process of that first jump and wasn’t able to continue. Thalesong Tshireletso was 4th in the “B” with 13.05m, also under par but similarly due to injury. Hopefully both will be back to full fitness before too long.
On the track the other double win came in the 800m. Jordan Donnelly took the “A” string in fine style where, after a slow first lap, he finished strongly recording 1m53.72 secs. Also impressing was Dan Gurton who, in a faster run race, won the “B” with a fine finish in his first scoring BAL race with a time of 1m53.09 secs. The 1500m was a slowish race with a quick last lap, Tom Phillips finished very strongly but in the end just lost out to place 2nd with 3m55.31 secs. Ed Shepherd moved down in distance and he also was 2nd in the “B with 3m57.27 secs. Over 5000m Alex Cornwell (photo) had a rare outing and in a good quality competitive race he broke a little before the bell and held on to win in a personal best of 14m27.55 secs. Martyn Cryer was 3rd in the “B” with 14m56.52 secs. In the steeplechase Tomaz Plibersek was elevated to “A” string action and placed a solid 4th with 9m37.1 secs. At very short notice of just a few hours, Harold Wyber showed his Club spirit as he gamely stepped in to cover the “B” event, where he finished 5th with 10m52.0 secs.
Ewan Dyer, winner of the two previous “B” string 400m Hurdles races, was elevated to “A” string on this occasion, and was a little below his best after seeming to not quite get the first hurdle right, finishing 6th with 54.47 secs. Jack Lawrie however won the “B” string with 53.1 secs. Jack, an U/20, then impressed with his first ever race over the senior 110mH, winning the “B” string with 14.9 secs (+0.6). Francis Smith was 4th in the “A” with 15.5 secs (+0.4). The sprints continued to be of a good standard. In the “A” 100m Eugene Ayanful was 5th with 11.08 secs (nwi) and in the “B” Omololu Abiodun won with 10.79 secs (nwi). Omololu was then a very close 2nd over 200m where he recorded a personal best of 21.20 secs (+0.8). In the “B” Tom Holligan was 5th with 22.56 secs (nwi). Vincent Ogedengbe is just getting back into the sport again after 3 years out whilst studying, and raced over 400m. From the inside lane he recorded 49.1 secs for 6th in the “A” 400m, but it didn’t look as if it will take him too long to get back to his previous level where he was a 47 secs junior. In the “B” Alex Bell ran strongly in a close race and just lost out as he placed 3rd with 48.66 secs.
The relays concluded the meeting, and Woodford’s 4x100m team of Dewar, Abiodun, Holligan and Ayanful won again in 41.43 secs. The 4x400 team of Dyer (49.90 secs), Ogedengbe (48.40 secs) Lawrie (49.58 secs) and Bell (47.80 secs) were 2nd with 3m15.68 secs.