SAL team just miss out
Woodford just failed to win their final SAL fixture of the season to miss out on potential promotion, end the match 2 points behind Havering who took the division 2 North East title. The two clubs quickly separated themselves from the rest of the teams and initially WGEL moved as much as 27 points clear, but Havering came back strongly to take a narrow lead that just survived Woodford taking a clean sweep in the relays. Thurrock were third overall but more than 90 points behind the top 2, ahead of Harlow, Ilford and the Stevenage and North Herts/HAWCs composite team.
107 photos, courtesy of Alex Wardle
Male athlete of the match was Matthew Adum-Yeboah, whose sprint double in 10.77PB and 21.48w (+2.2) were the two highest scoring performances in the men's match. Top male points scorer for Woodford was Merveilles Massembo who was 2nd in the triple jump (12.92) as well as in the B 100 and 200m. Omololu Abiodun was a dominant winner in the 400m, with U17 Chiji Nwankwo getting a PB in the B. Other PBs came from Matthew Gittens (11.21 despite -3.4m/s wind), Muhammad Waiz Yasser (11.77) and Dhruvik Patel in the non-scoring 100m. The women's sprinters were similarly successful, with Shona Vincent winning the 100m and U17 Amira Adeshokan the B string. Lakhesia Adams Poku won the B 200, while Kyra White convincingly took the women's 400m (56.80).
U17 athletes ensured good points across the 400m hurdles events, with specialist Joseph Arnold 3rd in the A race and Aidan O'Driscoll stepping in for 3rd in the B. Anaand Tratt tried the distance for the first time taking third in the A enabling Matilda Frith to win the B. Aidan also finished 2nd in the 2000m steeplechase while Matilda was 4th in the 1500m 'chase. Joint top individual points scorer, U20 Maia Fisher, took second in her first 100m hurdles for Woodford having previously won the B long jump and taken 2nd in the B javelin.
Woodford's only A string middle distance winner was U17 William Muffett who left it very late to come through and win the 800 in 1:59.53. In his first track race for Woodford since 2019 Tom Phillips took the B 3000m behind Angus Holford's 2nd in the A, before coming back for good points in the 1500. Aoibheann Pearce ran a significant PB of 2:18.58 for 2nd in the women's 800m, leaving Emily Caton just behind to take the B. Another racing on track for the first time in 5 years was Zoe Watson in her first 5000m where the heat was a major factor, causing Anaand Tratt to drop out.
Lynette Tucker was WGEL's other joint top individual points scorer, notably winning the shot in a P.B. 10.94 while taking the B discus behind Erin Delea and 3rd in the B hammer, with Simbiyat Sikiru taking the A. Kirsty Bateman Foley again dominated the javelin with 41.22. The men's throws scored similarly heavily with Aaron Edwards and Hugh Williams only 2cm apart in taking the shot and Christopher Linque (43.62) and Devon Douglas (41.49) taking the double in the discus. M55 Fergus Harford was runner-up in the hammer with Hugh Williams second in the B. Lee Lovelock-Jemott was third in the A javelin with Aaron Edwards second in the B having found time to pole vault beforehand.
Giselle Moulton (2.60) and Amber Higgs-Smith took the double win in the women's pole vault, a feat our vaulters achieved at every SAL this year. Bebe Jackson surprised herself by improving her PB (which was the European record for the T44 category) three times as she came second in the long jump in 4.60. Joseph Dowling-East took 3rd in the men's event. Joba Ashiru won the men's high jump with a single jump, albeit Marcel Winter matched his height to win the B (1.85). In the women's event Zoe Hedges was runner-up in the A and fellow U17 Amara Lambie improved her PB to 1.33.
With the match hanging in the balance nothing less than a clean sweep of relay wins would suffice, but while this was impressively achieved Havering finished second in every one of them. The women's 4x100 quartet of Benie Massembo, Shona Vincent, Lakhesia Adams Poku and Amira Adeshokan narrowly missed out on the division record the team set at the corresponding meeting last year, running 47.96. The men's quartet of Muhammad Waiz Yasser, Matthew Gittens, Matthew Adum-Yeboah and Merveilles Massembo were almost as impressive as they recorded the fastest WGEL time in the SAL, 42.63. The mixed 4x400m teams were even more dominant. The A team were only ever headed due to Kyra White running against men on the first leg. The winning time of 3:36.14 regained the division record as imperious Omololu Abiodun on the final leg threatened to lap one of the teams: Kyra White 58.1, Adrian Richards 49.6, Lakhesia Adams Poku 59.4, Omololu Abiodun 49.1. Not to be outdone the B team of Zach Bridges, Noa Chodokufa, Zoe Hedges and Marcel Winter won by more than the length of the home straight despite the last two legs never having run the distance before, clocking 3:54.51.
The final result may have been frustrating, but the performance of the 60 WGEL athletes competing in the fixture was admirable with the one of the deepest teamsheets the club has had in the SAL. To finish so close to a top 2 promotion place in the 18-team division without actually winning a single match was remarkable, testament to having the most consistent team across the season besides the champions Havering.