Press Report 4th August 2008

 

Ilford anguish after half point defeat -Report by Matt Maple

There was heartbreak for the Ilford AC mens team at the final meeting of the
Southern Mens League as the club missed promotion by half a point.  Starting
the day in 3rd place, the match was always going to be tough with four out
of the five teams in the top eight in the league, including leaders Enfield
and the in-form home team Victoria Park and Tower Hamlets.  Ilford went into
the match wanting to finish second or within one place of Victoria Park for
promotion.

Ilford's sprinters have been successful all year but lined up against the
likes of Victoria Park's international athlete Leevan Yearwood.  Aaron
Balogun and Marvin Tuffour rose to the challenge and ran exceptionally to
push Victoria Park's athletes close with Balogun recording 10.9 and 21.7 for
two second places in the 100 and 200 metres and Tuffour running 10.9 and
22.4 for the two events and a win in the longer race.

There were personal bests all round in the hurdles events with Elijah
Collins finally making his long awaited debut in the 400 metre hurdles with
an outstanding time of 62.8, a performance which was matched by Michael Wong
who knocked two seconds off his best for 66.3 seconds.  Collins went on to
run an excellent 17.8 in the high hurdles, which was surpassed by the
growing talents of Antoine Green with 17.3 seconds.

Collins recorded a rare victory in the triple jump with 12.51 metres, with
'A' string athlete Nat Senior matching his excellent performance from the
last match with 13.23 metres.  Senior was affected by a bad landing in the
high jump but still managed a height of 1.70m, while in the long jump,
Simeon Stuart and Healson Ihuoma performed well to record distances of 6.34m
and 5.83m respectively.

Sam Malekout has been peppering the 50 second mark in the quarter mile and
took off hard in the first half to break this barrier.  He tired towards the
end recording 50.8 seconds for second place.  Gary Madigan provided a late
replacement for the injured Osi Nzeako and looked like he might cause an
upset before straining a calf muscle in the final 100 metres to record 53.3.

The throws squad was strengthened with Sol Anwar flying back from his
holiday to compete.  Along with Sol, the much missed Craig Burrow was
competing with his weaker left arm and there was a debut from the highly
talented youngster, Kurtland Martyr.  Burrow competed with great ingenuity
to record two thirds in the shot putt and discus, while Anwar recorded a
victory in the shot with 10.95m and second in the discus with 29.52m.
Fifteen year old Martyr was entirely undaunted by the opposition and
recorded excellent performances with the senior implements with 33.02m in
the javelin and 22.01m in the hammer.

Ilford was missing key athletes missing in the middle distance events
allowing other athletes to shine.  Jack Webb has excelled in the senior
league and despite running much of the race on his own he was able to record
an excellent new personal best in the 800m of 2:14.7, while compatriot Iain
Macdonald battled hard to keep up with the leaders but faded in the latter
stages to record 2.16.3.

David Dickinson is new to the track but is learning his craft quickly and
battled admirably for a new best of 4:16.2, which was made all the more
remarkable as it followed a hard fought 5000 metres race earlier in the day.
The 5000 started out as a tactical race but was broken up by the Victoria
Park athletes who took off at 3000 metres leaving Dickinson to gradually
pull away from the Enfield athlete for a good time of 16:08.9 in second
place. He was joined by a tired but courageous Darren Bottrill who grittedly
kept the Met Police athlete at bay behind him for a time of 17.23.8.  Andy
Mason worked hard to gain second place in the steeplechase but the ultra
distance athlete was ultimately undone by a lack of a sprint finish but was
rewarded with a new best of 12.23.2.

Victoria Park were high and dry in first place but the promotion places were
still hanging in the balance as the relays started.  Ilford needed to defeat
Enfield by several places to gain second place in the match so that they
could achieve promotion and relegate Victoria Park to another year in
division 2.  With Victoria Park dominating the sprints events, they were
always going to be favourites and so it proved with an excellent time of
41.6, but Ilford's squad of Stuart, Green, Tuffour and Balogun ran a
perfectly executed race and were rewarded with a season's best of 43.6
seconds for second place.  Four tired athletes, Green, Collins, Malekout and
Balogun lined up for the 4x400m, not knowing how close the scores were but
knowing that they had to give their best efforts.  Green was making his
debut over the distance and did well to record 56.3, while Collins's time of
55.5 was also his best time over the distance.  Enfield were still 30 metres
ahead of Ilford but with outstanding performances of 50.2 from Malekout and
49.4 from Balogun, the Ilford squad came storming past the Enfield team for
3.31.4 and second place.  However it proved to be not enough.

The scores were finally totted up and the team's worst fears were confirmed
with Victoria Park 149, Enfield and Haringey 111, Ilford 105, Met Police 94,
Cambridge and Coleridge 76.  With Worthing causing a surprise upset over
Luton elsewhere in the division, Ilford finally finished 7th, with 24.5
points, just 0.5 points behind the promotion places.  Team Manager, Matt
Maple said, 'this is a devastating result after the team has worked so
bravely and tirelessly throughout the year'.  He continued 'Ilford has a
young and ambitious squad and will be back stronger next year ready for
another campaign'.

Other results:  Jack Webb - 1500m: 5:01.8; Iain Macdonald - 3000mSC:
11.59.2; Simeon Stuart - HJ: 1.60m; Sam Malekout - PV: 2.40m / JT: 37.76m;
Pete Whiting - PV: 1.48m; Craig Burrow - SP: 11.47m / DT: 35.02;
Non-scorers: Neil Crisp - 5k: 18.19
 

 

 

ILFORD JUNIORS BATTLE THE RAIN - Report by Paul Cheal

 

Ilford Athletic Club hosted the final round of the EYAL Meetings and finished fourth.

 

1) Havering Mayesbrook AC - 762 Points

2) St Albans                       - 578 Points

3) Southend AC                  - 559 Points

4) Ilford AC                         - 291 Points

5) Huntingdon AC               - 247 Points

6) Trent Park                      - 164 Points

 

 

In the U/17 Men Ilford paid farewell to 3 athletes as they were competing for the final time in this age group. Chris Dawe did the Shot Putt: 10m 32cm, the Hammer as a non-scorer and was unlucky to have three no throws in the Discus. Rob Legon competed in the Shot Putt as well with: 10m 07cm, Javelin: 20m 29cm and the Discus with: 27m 91cm, whilst Kurtland Martyr: Hammer: 35m 41cm, the Javelin: 30m 68cm and non-scoring in the Discus: 24m 91cm. Jack Webb and Liam Leddy did the 800m with Jack having raced the day before in the men's meeting but still managed: 2m 17.9s and Liam: 2m 26.6s, Jack also did the High Jump: 1m 40cm. Jordan Kirby continues to show his class and improvement with: 11.9s in the 100m and 24.1s in the 200m and a jump of: 3m 96cm in the Long Jump. Healson Ihuoma like Jack competed yesterday but still performed well: 12.2s in the 100m and a sound: 12m 25cm in the Triple Jump and finally Simeon Balson competing for Ilford for the first time ran the 200m & 400m in: 25.5s and 55.5s respectively and did the Triple Jump: 10m 24cm. The 4x100m relay went very well (Chris, Simeon, Jordan & Healson) storming home to victory in a time of: 47.6secs.

 

Kofi Jeffers was the sole representative in the U/15 Boys but did not embarrass himself at all. He managed the sprint double of 100m & 200m in a time of: 12.2s and 25.2s and also did the 80m Hurdles: 13.3s

 

In the U/13 Boys Jordan Akisanya did his usual events with: 13.4s in the 100m, 27.7s in the 200m and the Long Jump with: 4m 65. Nnamdi Anyika also did the 100m and recorded a PB with: 14.6s, the 75m Hurdles: 15.8s and the Long Jump: 3m 79cm. George Hadler did the 800m: 2m 34.5s, the 75m Hurdles: 13.6s and the High Jump which was below par for him with: 1m 25cm and Ciaran Rodway back from a week break did the 200m: 31.5s, 800m: 2m 46.5s and the Shot Putt: 4m 09cm. Relay 4x100m (Jordan, Ciaran, Nnamdi & George) also finished 1st in a time of: 56.5s.

 

Like the U/17 Men Lydia Hall in the U/17 Women said farewell to the young athletes league with a 300m: 46.3s and a Equalled PB in the High Jump: 1m 45. Laibah Malik shows so much enthusiasm nowadays which is great to see and her events that she competes in reflect that. Her 100m: 14.8s was good and she went one better in the Long Jump: 4m 07 this being a PB. Alisha Cox did the 200m: 31.1s, the 100m: 14.5s and the Long Jump: 3m 29cm. Relay team in the U/17 Women (Laibah, Alisha & Mika & Gloria from U/15's) came home in: 55.5s.

 

In the U/15 Girls Corina Bryce-Arnold did the 200m in: 29.1s and took part in a new event for her the 300m and coped well with it coming home in a respectable time of: 46.2s. Mika Marston did the Hammer with a PB: 16m 25cm and the Shot Putt: 7m 23cm. Georgia Laudat did the 100m in: 13.9s. Shynell Devaux competed in the Discus: 16m 17cm, Shot Putt: 6m 57cm and was pleased with a PB in the Javelin: 13.00 metres.

 

Like the U/15 Boys Sian Connelly was the only scoring athlete in the U/13 Girls but again was not at all put off by this. In the Long Jump she leaped: 2m 95cm and was able to add a few centimetres in the Shot Putt for a PB: 5m 98cm. There were a couple of non-scorers in the U/13 Girls due to there age and this was a very good experience for them. Ella Sheridan: 100m: 17.0s and 2m 88cm in the Long Jump, whilst Amy Madigan did the 100m but was unfortunate to pull up with a slight injury.

 

In not so summer like conditions the athletes did themselves proud in what has been a long hard season and especially at this meeting when their were many athletes away on holiday which is noticeable for a small club, but WELL DONE all and especially to Chris, Rob, Kurtland & Lydia for their commitment to the leagues over the years who say Au Revoir to the young athletes meetings now as they move up to Junior Men & Women.