ANDY BADDELEY delivered the goods at Sefton Park to qualify for a place at the forthcoming European Cross Country Championships.

The Wirral-born athlete took his place on a start line packed with talent from across the country for the McCain UK Cross Country Challenge, as athletes scrapped for a top six berth which would secure a trip to the championships in Slovenia 10 days from now.

Baddeley, a 1,500 metre finalist at the 2008 Olympics, showed he had the brawn to compliment natural speed as he ploughed through 9.8km of mud to finish fourth (29.26), booking his seat on the plane in the process.

Aldershot Farnham and District athlete Andy Vernon (29.19) threw in a powerful late kick to take victory at Sefton Park for the second year in a row, as the elite top six were separated by just ten seconds in a race laden with guts and intensity.

Baddeley recently returned from a four week high altitude training camp in Kenya, and a first effort over the unforgiving country terrain this term left the 29-year-old in positive spirits.

Baddeley said: “With not that far to go I was thinking 'I'm in touch here, I could win,’ and then I just couldn't go any faster toward the end. I think they'd run the legs out of me a little bit and I could feel the journey back from Kenya in my legs.”

Liverpool Harrier Jonny Mellor produced an excellent 15th-placed finish at the event, which served as a European trial for women, juniors and U23s.

The Sefton Park soil was declared as a birth place for a new era in women’s distance running by the race commentator, as stalwarts of yesteryear such as Paula Radcliffe and Liz Yelling move on to fresh challenges. Hallamshire athlete Hatti Dean took the female honours.