Sorry about the delay in getting the first round of the Southern League matches to you but although most the matches were held on 14th April the Hastings match in Div 3 SE was not held at Carshalton until this weekend and results are not yet available.
There were mixed fortunes for the Sussex teams on the 14th with only one Sussex victory in a series of matches.
Crawley travelled to Bromley for their Division one match and had a great battle with Blackheath & Bromley before ceding top place to the home club who scored 253 points to the Sussex club’s 201 in second place.
Scott Staples, who has switched from Lewes to Crawley smashed his own County U20 javelin record when winning the event at Bromley with a cracking throw of 65.29m which puts him at the head of the British U20 rankings season.
In Div 2E at Tonbridge Eastbourne also took second team spot to the home team with 223 points to Eastbourne’s 199 and Croydon’s 191 which was a pretty good effort for the Sussex team.
The victory came in Div 3 SW at the Withdean Stadium where Brighton & Hove, who were relegated at the end of last season, held at bay one of last season promotion challengers Team Dorset.
The home club totalled 211 points to Dorset’s 181 with Horsham Blue Star in third place with a 164 points.
It was Horsham’s Harry Baker who notched up one of the better efforts of the day, despite still being in the U20 age group, when winning the high jump a 2.00m while another U20 athlete, the home club’s Edan Cole, threw 56.71m to win the javelin throw.
Brighton club mate Tom Niner showed his promise with a dominating run over two laps. Niner controlled the race from the start and finished, easing up, with several metres in hand in 1:55.4s.
Also in Div 3 SW Worthing and Chichester finished respectively third and fourth in their match at Andover.
In the Div 3 SE matches East Grinstead did well to finish second at Eltham to the home club, Bexley, scoring 140 points to the winner’s 268.
In a tough second match at Eltham the combined Haywards Heath/Lewes were squeezed into fourth place with 93 points to Cambridge Harrier’s winning total of 198.
If you have any queries or want more information regarding this post, please Email Reg Hook.