Senior men’s team clinch their fourth straight title

Woodford Green AC’s senior men’s cross country squad eased to their fourth consecutive London City Runner Metropolitan League title at Perivale on Saturday.

The ever-consistent Angus Holford had the honour of lifting the silver trophy – the club’s 13th title victory since 1988-89.

Team Manager, Terry McCarthy, said: “Our performances before Christmas were remarkable. We were unstoppable.

“I think it establishes the template for what we need to do in future seasons – make the best possible use of our under-23s track men to establish a big lead during the autumn and hang on after Christmas.

“We still have plenty of work to do this season. We’re looking for a top 10 in the Nationals and we want to make it very tough for others to beat us in the Southern 12-Stage.”

A series of remarkable performances left the team well ahead of the chasing pack prior to the race at Horsenden Hill.

With Daniel Agustus feeling stiff from racing in Northern Ireland on Thursday it was Harun Abdi who led the team home.

Abdi placed eighth in 28 minutes 48 seconds as he steps up his form ahead of the Under-20s National CC in two week’s time.

Tom Beedell, lying second behind Agustus in the Ken Bray Trophy for winter consistency, ran his usual solid race, but Agustus pounced on a mid-race error and finished 11th, with Beedell back in 15th.

This winter’s revelation, Harold Wyber, ran soundly if unspectacularly and finished 21st, while Kevin Murphy was 24th.

The ever-improving Darren Southcott was eight seconds behind in a Metropolitan League best time of 30.12 for 26th. Holford was next to finish in 32nd.

It was more than a minute before Woodford Green’s next man crossed the line, when Matt Molloy came in strongly in 46th.

Bertie Powell fought off a heavy cold to maintain his streak of competing in 43 consecutive League races. Powell finished feeling so ill that he lost around 15 places in the final downhill stretch and collapsed on the ground once over the line in 61st place.

Close behind in 63rd was Jim Roche, who is having his best season for several years.

The final two places in the scoring 12 were hotly contested, as five of Woodford Green’s men finished within 23 seconds of one another.

Rob Cox came out on top (77th) with Gareth Cavell (79th) two seconds behind.