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Dear Roy
Alan tells me that you want our Team Solent reports e-mailed to youself for
performance reference. Here you go then:
Report for Southern League Division 1 match at Tooting Bec on Saturday the
6th of May involving Jersey athletes Scott Roberts, Alan Harrison and Paul
Derrien.
Jersey athletes Scott Roberts, Alan Harrison and Paul Derrien all
contributed significant points towards a Team Solent victory at Tooting Bec
on Saturday, in the first Southern League Division 1 match of the season.
Youthful veteran athlete Alan Harrison had a successful day on the track as
he ran his fastest 400m for two years, clocking a sharp 50.7 seconds for
second in the "A" string race, a testament to a hard winter's
training. He
followed this up with a relaxed, but swift first leg in the 4x400 metres
relay, contributing to an easy Team Solent victory in the discipline.
Paul Derrien was coming into the match fairly blind, as he had missed
virtually a whole winter of training due to an upsurge in his workload since
moving to London. Luckily Derrien is an athlete able to compete fairly
well
off little training, and this proved so as he threw consistently well
throughout the afternoon. He started his afternoon by throwing 44.89m in
the hammer for 3rd in the "A" string, despite not showing his usual
speed in
the circle. This was closely followed by 4th in the "A" string
shot putt,
where he threw 11.69m. Derrien then gamely volunteered to throw the
javelin
for a point, and despite a chronic shoulder injury, he still managed 38.85m
for 4th in the "B" string. He completed his day by throwing
35.98m in the
discus, gaining 3rd spot in the "A" string event.
Another athlete who was coming into the day without any indication of form
was Scott Roberts, who had missed 5 months of winter training due to a
hamstring injury. In fact, he was planning to play cricket for the summer
until he got a call from the Team Solent manager asking desperately for
multi-eventer for the first match.
Roberts got his afternoon off to a start by jumping over a height in the
pole vault for a point, despite using a 30 year old pole that didn't look
much thicker than a matchstick. He then ran over to the Long Jump, where
he
experienced extreme difficulty with his run-up, as the wind was fluctuating
between a tail and head wind on the runway. After numerous no jumps, he
eventually won the "A" string event in the last round with a very
modest
6.17m. Minutes later he was called over to the shot putt and high jump
where he had to alternate attempts, as they were running simultaneously.
Roberts threw 11.63m in the shot for 2nd in the "B" string, while in
the
high jump, his lack of any sort of run up meant he only managed 1.75m for
2nd in the "B" string.
After 5 minutes breather, the javelin competition got under way. Roberts
could possibly have won the competition with his first throw, as the javelin
sailed out beyond 50 metres, only for him to overbalance and step on the
line to record a foul. He eventually could only muster a frustrating
48.98m
for 3rd place in the "A" string, but at least he looked back to near
his 50
metre form of 3 years ago. Next for Roberts was the always eventful 110
metre hurdles, and it definitely lived up to it's billing. Roberts got
away
superbly, and was cleanly over the barriers and 15 metres clear until the
last hurdle which he smashed in half, toppling to the ground as a result.
He got straight back up, but could only manage 3rd in the "A" string
race.
Roberts' afternoon was rounded off by running the first leg in the 4x100
metres relay where he gave Team Solent a good lead, only for the team to be
pegged back and demoted to second by Herne Hill Harriers, their anchor leg
runner being an English International.
Team Solent won the match with a total of 130 points ahead of Herne Hill
Harriers with 118 points, followed by Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, Cambridge
Harriers and Horsham AC.
The next match will take place on the 3rd of June at Linford Christie
stadium.
Regards
Scott Roberts
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