ILFORD Athletics Club sent out an impressive 15 runners in Sunday s Great Baddow 10-mile road race, narrowly missing out on the men s team award by one point to Colchester Harriers. A streamline Terry Knightley led the club home in a very good time of on

ILFORD Athletics Club sent out an impressive 15 runners in Sunday's Great Baddow 10-mile road race, narrowly missing out on the men's team award by one point to Colchester Harriers.

A streamline Terry Knightley led the club home in a very good time of one hour 53 seconds for ninth place. Iain Macdonald was having his own private battle with veteran Neil Crisp, returning times of 1.1.20 and 1.1.22 for 11th and 13th places respectively. Macdonald also recorded a personal best for the distance.

Bree Nordin was the club's top woman, running 1.12.33 for 18th place, while Dianne Crisp followed her home in 1.14.55 for 22nd and Nicola Hopkinson closed in 1.18.45 for 45th.

Simeon Stuart and Healson Ihuoma produced lifetime bests in a tight competition for Ilford as they finished fourth at their second meeting of the Southern Men's League at Lewes, Sussex.

Reigning county champion, long jumper Stuart made the best of his recent form, adding 10cm to his lifetime best, for an excellent leap of 6.69m. Ilford gained maximum points in the event as Ihuoma leapt to 6.31m in the B string.

Ihuoma had a busy start to the day as he dashed over to the pole vault and made a remarkable debut of 2.80m while Dewa Collier narrowly missed 2.40m on his debut.

Elijah Collins smashed his personal best by a foot with 2.80m, and Nathaniel Senior scored a comfortable victory with a jump of 3.04m.

Ilford's strong sprints squad had mixed fortunes against a strong Thames Valley Harriers outfit. Ilford's top sprinter Aaron Balogun ran strongly into a headwind for 22.6 in the 200m, but was unable to overhaul rival Andre Williams.

Jordan Kirby had no such trouble as he dominated the B string 200m event after a shaky start for a dominant run of 23.1.

Madigan narrowly missed out on second in the 100m with a good performance of 11.8, but in the first race, as the starter failed to notice a false start, Ilford 'A' string runner Marvin Tuffour was left in his blocks. He recovered well in the 400m with a battling third place in 53.1, while Ihuoma was again in action with 55.8.

Malcolm Muir and David Dickinson ran neck and neck in a thrilling 5,000m, with honours ending even at the end of the race, with Muir finishing second in 16.03.1.

Muir and Dickinson were back in action an hour later to run a tactical 1,500m to finish in 4.21.3 and 4.30.8 respectively, but Muir's day was not finished as he competed in the steeplechase for second in 10.55.6, with Matt Maple not far behind in 11.12.1 for a 'B' string second.

The blustery conditions affected times in the half-mile, but both Peter Clinch and Iain Macdonald battled strongly for 2.06.2 and 2.13.1 respectively.

Burrow threw a season's best of 37.79m in the discus and 11.99m in the shot, while Clarke narrowly surpassed the 40m mark in a tough competition for fourth in the hammer. Ihuoma threw the javelin 35.28m. Ilford trailed Thames Valley Harriers by only half a point with the relays to go.

The Ilford squad of Collins, Kirby, Stuart and Madigan ran a near perfect display in the short relay, but were missing the fire-power of the Thames Valley squad to finish second in 44.2.

There was a similar story in the longer relay as the Ilford team of Kirby (53.3), Ihuoma (54.4), Balogun (50.3) and Madigan (52.0) produced an excellent performance of 3.30.0, but were unable to match their rivals.

The results meant that Ilford finished a narrow fourth for the second match in a row and will look to have more luck in three weeks' time at Kingston.