Hamstring horror for Armstrong on debut

Jun 12 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

JAMES ARMSTRONG’S senior Northern League debut for SouthportWaterloo ended in disappointment as the Under-17 sprint star pulled a hamstring in the 100m of the division two match at Preston and hobbled home last.

Adam Davies brightened the afternoon for the Sandgrounders with a new club record of 44.79 in the hammer and there was a high hurdles double from Katie McHale and Charlotte Buckingham.

The club finished fourth.

They were well beaten by Liverpool Pembroke-Sefton who were pipped on the post by Preston. For LPS Bernie Murphy won the steeplechase, Paul Milburn the hurdles, there were wins for Michael Zaim and Phil Taylor in the sprints while decathlete Mark Line won the pole vault.

For the ladies June Swift (800), Kirsty Longley (1500) each scored maximum points while Charlotte Christian and Rachel Hutchinson were victorious in the hammer, as LPS moved into third in the table at the halfway point of the season.

Wirral produced a much better performance on home turf at The Oval, finishing fourth in division three.

Becky McLinden (100 & 400), Julie Money(400) each won with Charlotte O’Connell and Elizabeth Crawshaw taking maximum points in the 3000.

Chris Smith (400), Jason Donnelly (800 and 1500) and Rory Lott (800) provided the foundation for the Bebington outfit’s success.

Liverpool took third place, Les McIntosh (hammer), Dave McKeown (discus), and Andrew Allen (javelin) all claiming winning points. Zoe Woodward won the 800 for the women.

St Helens-Sutton hung on to fourth place in another division two match at Cleckheaton. Phil Robinson and Ray Vose producing a rare high hurdles double. Ian Costello and Jemma Shaw won the 800 and Committee members Pam Appleton (3000), Chris Dempsey (hammer), Sue Clague (javelin) and Barry Graney (5000) all contributed to the club’s success. Dave Forrester set a new club junior record of 50.4 for the 400.

Warrington moved to the top of Division Four of the Northern League with a comprehensive victory over host club Macclesfield. Danny Cliffe and Liam Thompson won the 1500 for the men and

Lucy Gemmell and Louisa Tanner for the women. Only 48 hours earlier Thompson was racing in the Bowden 5k finishing in the top six.

In the British Athletics League Division Two match at Gateshead Liverpool finished sixth out of eight in a very tight finish. Michael Bomba and Will Lowndes scored their only double success of the day winning the A & B hammer competitions.

This weekend’s main events are the various schools’ championships with the Merseyside event taking place at Wavertree on Saturday.

The Northern Senior and Under-20 Championships take place over two days at Sport City, Manchester.