A victory and an Olympic B standard for Alex Smith in the hammer, a glorious 800m and 1500m double for Dave Proctor and further A string wins for Andy Robertson and Matt Barnes in 100m and 3000m were the highlights for the club at the second BAL Premiership match of the summer at Hendon on Saturday. The team took a total of 319 points, an incredible 209 of which were from track events, as they put the troubles of match 1 behind them to surge up the table and keep slim hopes of retaining the national title alive. Shaftesbury Barnet won the match and lead the table with 15 points, ahead of Birchfield in 2nd with 12. City of Manchester are currently 5th, but only 2 points adrift of second with two more matches to come.
Alex Smith, keenly awaiting news of Olympic selection, dominated a hammer competition that he won by more than 6 metres, while Dave Proctor controlled both middle distance races and produced a tactical masterclass to defeat some very tough opponents. Andy Robertson, fresh from making the UK champs final, returned to club duty and beat a strong field including Simeon Williamson and Mark Findlay. Matt Barnes, who had travelled up to the match from a break in Devon, possibly surprised even himself by running away from the pack to take an excellent win, made all the more impressive by the fact that he ran the final lap with his shoe hanging off.
While A string victories are important, strong performances across the board are vital. Elsewhere on the track, Tom Atkinson marked his debut with a great win in the B 800m, a performance matched by Matt Bond in the 3000m, as he returned to the team after his spell at college in the USA. Nick Samuels, 2nd in the 1500m, and the steeplechasers James Bailey and Glen Comish who were both 3rd in their respective races, completed an endurance squad who took a superb 102 from a possible 112 available. Seeing Glen back in a Sale vest and competing was a fine sight indeed.
In the sprints there was a fine 5th place in a race marred by the headwind for Ryan Oswald in the 100, while match 1 performers Chris Craig and Nathan Selby returned to take excellent points in the 200m. There was also a season's best for Pat Swan in the 400m and a massive pb (48.44) for his young counterpart Callum Roughneen in the B race. In the hurdles, Chris Wakeford is becoming so consistently good that his top 3 finishes are almost expected these days, but that shouldn't take away from a super 2nd place. Darren Lewis, on debut, matched that run in the B. Nick Gayle, like Chris, is a big scorer in the league and he yet again took a valuable 2nd place in the 110mH. Unfortunately Dan Needham didn't manage to finish the B race, when a 2nd place at least looked there for the taking.
In the field, we had a few gaps, but there were still great second places for Chris Baker, making his league debut in the high jump, and Rich Shuttleworth, making his first appearance for the club in the Javelin. Brian Hall, having lacked sleep for 7 weeks since the birth of his young son, took a victory in the B high jump, while Rimas Martisauskas, despite being unhappy with his throwing, took a fine 3rd in the shot. Jack Andrew had a busy but fruitful day, taking 3rd in the Pole Vault, as well as throwing a pb in the discus and also picking up valuable points in the shot. Matt Cullen returned from a trip to India a little rusty, but was still able to take 2nd in the B pole vault, while roommate Stephen Porter was 5th in thee B javelin. The horizontal jumpers had a tough afternoon, with winds heavily affecting run ups, but Jonathan Ferryman (who doubled in the long and triple jump), Andy Burgess and James Barratt still recorded valid jumps to further improve the team's points tally.