Match Report by Ian Vosser
2nd Place sets us off with a good start to the season
The match was a double fixture but seemed surprising quiet on arrival, we soon found out that there were only three other teams in our division. We had quite a strong team out so we were looking for a good result to start the season off. Watford’s Stadium is nicely sheltered by trees and many athletes run PB’s here.
We had a good start with the pole vault, David Vosser managed to clear 1.10 and so did Dave Bush giving us 5.5 points. With a bit of training these guys could be good? In the Hammer we secured 9 early points with a first from our international athlete and a second from Simon Morgan. We got mainly 2nd and 3rds from the other throwing events, which gave us some good points.
The jumping events weren’t quite as strong but Dave Bush came 2nd in both the pole vault and Long jump. I also started in my first ever southern league match by doing a long jump I came fourth which wasn’t bad from my debut appearance. (Lets not mention that there were only four teams)
We were strong on the track with only Newton Abbott getting more points, Keith Vallis won the 3000M S/ch and Keith Clark came 2nd in the B, David Vosser had a joint first on the 800M. This is his first ever deadheat in the 26years of running in this league. Our new sprinter James Coney came fourth in the 100M and 400 M also a 3rd in the 200M, hopefully he will be back next match to give us more valuable points. He also contributed strongly to both Relays. James is a coach at the Andover Club and will be a great addition to our team over the coming year.
Overall the match was a great success with us coming second by only half a point, this places us 8th in the table, which is good start and will hopefully be improved.