Match Results - Northern League Meeting Saturday 3rd June 2006
Listed below are the athletes that took part in today's Northern League meeting and their performances.
The team finished 2nd overall with 376 points.
The following Match Report was supplied by Danny Hind, Team Manager...
Hello and welcome to this month's match report. Match two of the Northern League season brought us to Wigan. Being our home fixture, we were confident we could maintain our position in the league with another strong team performance.
I would like to start off firstly by thanking all the referees and officials for officiating the match; Dave Willey for all his hard work behind the scenes in his organisation of the meeting and recruiting the relevant referees and officials; Sue Vickery for making all the official's lunches; Alan Harrison for producing and recording all the results for the meeting and finally for my team of judges Ian McDonald, Jan Lishman, Emma Holmes, Roger Holmes, Janet Hind and Dave Culshaw - all of whom greatly aided in the smooth running of the meeting.
Due to the Women’s National League match being on the next day most of the first team squad we had in the previous match had withdrawn from the squad so that they were fresh and ready for the start of their campaign. Fortunately, Bethan Lishman and Shona McPherson chose to compete on both days which greatly helped the Northern League side gain those extra first place points to help the team cement second place overall. As well as the withdrawal of the National League Athletes, the squad was hit with a long injury and absence list, creating a headache for me to try and fill the team sheet up the best I could. Fortunately I was able to welcome back athletes who had been on the injury list into the team and others who where making their debuts in the league.
The athletes who were making their Northern League Debuts where Jessica Parr, Jessica Littler, John McGathan, Danny Griffiths (after his multi-million pound transfer from north) and Kayleigh Hill making a welcome return in Wigan colours. It was also a pleasure to welcome back our steeple chasers Rod Hart and Phil West and one Vicky Pilling from the depths of obscurity who all turned out and competed excellently for the team clocking some really good performances. Once again we had a large number of athletes turn up, however, with the sea of blue T-Shirts around the arena from the Bolton squad we knew it would require a huge performance to overhaul them at the top of the league table.
Team Captain Carl Fletcher started the day off with his usual high quality performances in the hammer, shot and discus producing some excellent distances to secure two first places and a third. Dave Steele and Ian Franklin where the other two athletes in these events both of whom contributed well to the team points score by securing high place finishes in their respective events. As in the first match the female throwers were severely stretched with only two out and out throwing athletes covering the events. However, this time round it was pleasing to welcome back Vicky Dyer and Kim Halliwell to the squad to help Bethan Lishman and Kirsty Forsyth in the throwing events. All the girls along with Debbi Jukes secured top three finishes in all the throwing events reiterating once again Wigan’s strength in the field competition. A special mention must go to Bethan who threw a season's best throw and, in turn, a new club record. The men's javelin saw the reliable and consistent duo of Andrew Ormesher and Adrian Cawley turn out and throw respectable distances both achieving second places in the A and B string events. The jumps were covered by Jessica Parr, Jessica Littler, John Forshaw, Mike Serra, Laura Willey, Tom O’Brien, Debbi Jukes and Rebecca Holgate - who dragged herself off her sick bed to come down and compete. Most of these were not pleased with their performance’s however all scored vital points for the team which is what it is all about.
Onto the track events, which began with Wigan’s dominance in the 400m Hurdles with National League Squad member Shona McPherson, Tom O’Brien and Danny Hind all producing first place finishes with some relatively controlled but quick performances. This set the platform for seasoned Northern League team member Chris Bryant and new signing Danny Griffiths in the 800m. Both of them, off the back of some impressive performances mid week at Trafford, won their races with relative ease to continue our strong start to the day. Off to the 100m, which saw Mike Serra and debutant John McGathan competing, both produced season best performances but were unable to push themselves within the top two in the competition. It was pleasing to see however, John’s mentality during his warm up. It is never easy for a junior to step up into the Northern League and especially into an A string sport but John took it all in his stride and gave a confident performance. Jo Baker, Laura Willey and Kayleigh Hill headed the female's sprint challenge. Laura, struggling with an injury, gave a gutsy performance in the 100m supported by Jo who after her heroics in the previous meeting cemented her place in the team with two top 3 finishes. Kayleigh made a welcome return back to the Wigan squad with a high quality performance in the 200m - narrowly coming 2nd by a tenth of a second. The 400m was headed by Jane Chadwick who has made a successful step up to this event and, off the back of some intense training and a counties gold medal in this event, she produced yet another great performance to win in a sub 60 second time. She was partnered by Vicky Pilling who also did the 800m. Vicky has not trained since early January but gladly and willingly she turned out and gained some vital points for the team. Vicky is a clear example of what this team is all about, she showed great confidence, motivation and team spirit by doing these events off the back of no training, well done mate! The distance events saw the welcome return of John Worthington into the squad who was partnered in the 5000m by Dave Wall. John gave a strong display finishing with a respectable time of sub 17 minutes. Unfortunately, the conditions were a bit too much for Dave who failed to finish the race. Diane Wall and Kathryn Culshaw headed the female charge in the 3000m. Both girls worked well together finishing only a second apart from each other but clocking some impressive times and vitally those highly placed points. Ben Hunt gave another strong performance in the men’s 1500m and ran a vital leg in the 4x400m. But, my highlight of the day was Debbie Culshaw’s "Paula Radcliffe style" performance in the women’s 1500m. Debbie would agree with me that she is not blessed with speed but with her race plan she lead from gun to tape. Tracked all the way she opened out with 300m to go and ran the finish out of her competitors - a seasoned, professional performance!
Again, it was another pleasing performance, and with the support from each other along with family and friends, I am still greatly confident that we can achieve a playoff spot and put in a strong performance to win the whole thing. Keep up the hard work guys and it will all be rewarded at the end of the season. Hope you all enjoyed the match, be good. Danny
ATHLETE OF THE MATCH - Tom O’Brien - For his moaning after the first match where he ran three personal bests
PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY - Debbie Culshaw - For her seasoned, professional performance in the 1500m
SIGHT OF THE DAY - Chris Bryant & Trevor Painter - Chris, for his new style of down starts in the 400m - remember Chris both hands on the ground
next time mate; Trevor for the shorts he was wearing - those who saw them will agree they definitely deserve a mention!
SOUND OF THE DAY - Trevor Painter - For his heckling at the start of the 400m towards Chris Bryant and his new style of down starts!
Men
| Event | "A" Competitor | "B" Competitor |
| 100M | John McGathan (11.5) | Mike Serra (11.9) |
| 200M | Tom O'Brien (22.8) | Danny Hind (24.0) |
| 400M | Chris Bryant (51.1) | Danny Hind (53.0) |
| 800M | Chris Bryant (2:03.7) | Danny Griffiths (2:02.3) |
| 1500M | Danny Griffiths (4:19.9) | Ben Hunt (4:27.6) |
| 3000M Steeplechase | Phil West (10:15.3) | Roderick Hart (10:36.7) |
| 5000M | John Worthington (16:42.7) | |
| 110M Hurdles | John Forshaw (18.4) | Danny Hind (19.6) |
| 400M Hurdles | Tom O'Brien (59.1) | Danny Hind (59.2) |
| Hammer | Carl Fletcher (34.42) | Dave Steele (26.48) |
| Discus | Carl Fletcher (39.80) | Ian Franklin (32.32) |
| Javelin | Andrew Ormesher (51.58) | Adrian Cawley (43.41) |
| Shot | Carl Fletcher (14.17) | Dave Steele (9.23) |
| Long Jump | Mike Serra (5.90) | John Forshaw (5.54) |
| Triple Jump | Mike Serra (11.42) | John Forshaw (9.67) |
| High Jump | Tom O'Brien (1.75) | John Forshaw (1.65) |
| 4x400M Relay | 1st (3:29.9) |
Women
| Event | "A" Competitor | "B" Competitor |
| 100M | Laura Willey (12.9) | Joanne Baker (13.5) |
| 200M | Kayleigh Hill (25.8) | Joanne Baker (28.8) |
| 400M | Jane Chadwick (59.4) | Vicky Pilling (65.7) |
| 800M | Vicky Pilling (2:46.1) | |
| 1500M | Debbie Culshaw (4:57.1) | |
| 3000M | Diane Wall (12:00.2) | Kathryn Culshaw (12:01.0) |
| 400M Hurdles | Shona MacPherson (63.1) | |
| Hammer | Bethan Lishman (43.04) | Kirsty Forsyth (25.00) |
| Discus | Vicky Dyer (25.86) | Kim Halliwell (25.13) |
| Javelin | Debbie Jukes (18.17) | Kim Halliwell (13.70) |
| Shot | Kim Halliwell (8.06) | Vicky Dyer (8.05) |
| Long Jump | Laura Willey (5.09) | Debbie Jukes (3.55) |
| Triple Jump | Jess Parr (9.55) | Jess Littler (8.12) |
| High Jump | Rebecca Holgate (1.50) | Debbie Jukes (1.40) |
| 4x100M Relay | 1st (51.0) |
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