THE general ballot is now open for places in the Bupa Great North Run.

The country’s biggest running event will take place on Sunday, September 15.

A record number of applications were submitted for last year’s run, with more than 108,000 people aiming to take part. Of those 55,000 entrants were successful and every postcode region in the country was represented.

An estimated £30million was raised for hundreds of charities.

To register for the ballot for this year’s race visit www.greatrun.org

The ballot will close at noon on Monday, February 4 and applicants will be advised of the outcome later that week.

IT was definitely a case of a double celebration for Morpeth Harriers in the annual Morpeth 11k Road Race on New Year’s Day, writes George Patterson.

Ross Floyd scored a 26-second margin of victory in the Men’s event and clubmate Delyth James secured winning success in the Women’s race by 30 seconds.

For Floyd it was a second victory in six days, as the Northumbria Healthcare junior doctor had also achieved victory in the Woodlawn Christmas Pudding Run on Boxing Day and this particular victory proved, to coin a phrase, to be just what the good doctor ordered.

Times were a little on the slow side however, with the 140 plus runners having to encounter a tricky cold breeze on the exposed sections of the course.

Second place went to Morpeth Harrier Matt Nicholson, who is now looking closer to his best, following a lay off.

Floyd and Nicholson had been neck and neck until around halfway at Mitford Steads, however, on the downward homeward stretch on the Whalton Road, the former made his strike for victory, and eventually crossed the finish line in a fairly modest 34m58s.

Nicholson hung on for second place in 35m24s, finishing 46 seconds clear of North Shields Poly’s Scott Ellis, who just outsprinted his own club mate Graeme Cook.

Sunderland Harrier Craig Isherwood finished fifth in 36m42s, and he was followed home in sixth, seventh, and eighth places by a procession of Morpeth Harriers, Nathan Shrubb, Thomas Straughan, and Gary Jones, in respective times of 37m25s, 37m41s, and 38m36s.

Ninth place went to Jeff Prest of Trafford AC, who was also the first veteran man home in 38m52s.

The top ten were completed with Patrick Duffy of Heaton Harriers crossing the Stanners finish line in 38m56s.

Morpeth Harrier Delyth James, made her return trip from her Midland home most fruitful, when she finished 26th overall in 42m07s, to capture the ladies title.

Second place in the ladies race went to Charnwood’s Claire McKittrick, who ran well to finish 29th in 42m37s, and was first lady veteran.

Third place in the ladies event went to Sunderland Harrier Michelle Avery (formerly Holt), who was 32nd overall in 43m09s.

Fourth in the ladies race was Angela Hibbs, now running in the colours of Jarrow and Hebburn, who was 42nd overall in 44m34s.

Fifth placed lady was South Shields Harrier Michelle Ford, who was 48th overall in 44m29s.

Morpeth Harriers wish to thank the Benfield Motor Group for its generous sponsorship of the event, also to press officer George Patterson for his additional sponsorship and Start Fitness for its assistance with prize vouchers.

In addition to this, they would also like to thank Morpeth Rugby Club for the use of their premises for registration and Ted Phizacklea and his Red Cross team for first aid provision.

Last but not least, thanks also go to race director Kevin Bray for his time and effort, his team of helpers and friends of Morpeth Harriers for their marshalling of the event on the day, and to the team of UK Athletics officials who provided race administration.

Full results can be found on the Morpeth Harriers website – www.morpethharriers.freeservers.com

More than 500 hardy competitors took part in the annual Woodlawn Christmas Pudding Run, at Whitley Bay, on Boxing Day, and were led home by Morpeth Harrier Ross Floyd, who well and truly celebrated his Christmas with a one second marginal victory over Cleveland based Steven Hepples, who runs for Newham and Essex Beagles.

It was a determined late challenge by Hepples, to spur Floyd into dramatic action, to secure an excellent and important personal victory in 15m29s, for the approximate 5k distance.

Floyd also spearheaded an excellent Morpeth Harriers domination, with newest recruit Ryan Stephenson, formerly Gateshead Harriers, producing an excellent first run in a Blue and White vest, to finish third in 15m52s, just one second ahead of another of his new club mates Michael Dawson in fourth spot.

Another top performer in a Morpeth vest was Nathan Shrubb, who finished seventh in a time of 16m27s.

Morpeth Harriers superiority in the event was further confirmed, with Ashley Gibson taking the Women’s title in 17m32s, with a winning margin of 16 seconds over Wallsend Harrier Danielle Hodgkinson.

Other Morpeth Harriers who featured in the top 20 finishers were Phil Walker and Paul Waterston, although their actual finishing positions are still to be confirmed, along with other members from the club who turned out, in an event where the entire proceeds go to the Woodlawn special needs school, at Whitley Bay.

Further performances from the Saltwell Road Races, held on Saturday, December 22, 2012, confirm that Morpeth Harrier Alison Brown, produced an excellent win in the U17 Women’s event, (5k approx), in a time of 19m48s, which gave her just over a minute marginal victory over her closest rival.

In the Senior Men’s 10k event, Morpeth Harrier Archie Jenkins was second in the Over 60 Male category, when finishing 111th overall in a time of 45m33s.

Fellow Morpeth Harrier James McFetrich finished 160th in 48m01s.

Two Morpeth Harriers travelled to Clitheroe in Lancashire on Sunday to compete in the annual Ribble 10k, which also incorporated the North of England Championships.

In a total field of 1,070 finishers, Graeme Taylor finished 46th in a time of 32m39s, and Michael Thomsen finished 113th in 35m58s.

The event was won by Bristol and West’s David Bishop in 30m02s.

SPORTS clubs and organisations in Northumberland can start bidding for a share of £2million of National Lottery money to protect and improve pitches and playing fields.

Dozens more teams and groups will get the chance to join the 36 projects in the North East that have already benefited from a total of over £1.6million of Sport England Protecting Playing Fields funding.

Through the initiative, investments of between £20,000 and £50,000 are allocated to bring disused playing fields back into use, improve the condition of pitches, buy new playing field land and purchase existing playing field land where there is a known threat, such as the expiry of a lease or a development proposal.

Sport England Chairman Richard Lewis said: “Playing fields are a vital part of the sporting experience as it is where people often have their first experience of sport.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for more sports groups to benefit and give generations of young people great places to learn sport.”

The organisation has also entered into a partnership with Fields in Trust (FIT) – an independent UK-wide charity dedicated to protecting and improving outdoor space for sport, play and recreation – to help the protection of playing fields as part of the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge.

Successful applicants to Protecting Playing Fields who accept a Deed of Dedication of their playing field in ‘perpetuity’ will have their project details passed to FIT. This will give them the opportunity to become a Queen Elizabeth II Field as part of the programme to mark the Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics.

Alison Moore-Gwyn, Chief Executive of FIT, said: “The grants provided through the Protecting Playing Fields fund continue to build a legacy of greater participation in sport across England in the wake of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“We are delighted that the partnership between Fields in Trust and Sport England is ensuring that the playing fields where these activities take place are also being protected for future generations.”

Applications for round four of Protecting Playing Fields can be made via www.sportengland.org/funding/protecting_playing_fields.aspx

The deadline is February 18.

A TOP sporting competition will be staged in Morpeth next spring as hundreds of athletes will come to the town for a World Championship qualifying event.

Working with the recently-formed Morpeth Town Team, locally-based Vo2max Racing has won the rights to stage a duathlon event that has been accredited by its governing body as a qualifying competition for the ITU Sprint Distance World Championships to be held in Ottawa, Canada, in August.

The duathlon – made up of a 6k run, a 29k cycle ride then finishing with another run – will start and finish in the centre of Morpeth on Easter Monday, April 1.

Competitors will be flagged off from the Telford Bridge end of Bridge Street before heading through Morpeth Market Place then into Carlisle Park to complete the race circuit through Castle Square. Next they will head into New Market, where they will jump on their bikes to set off on a country ride that will take them through Pigdon, Netherwitton and back into Morpeth past Mitford.

The final 4k run will see competitors race around the town centre circuit before crossing the finishing line in the Market Place.

Organisers are hoping large crowds of spectators will throng the streets of the town and through Carlisle Park to cheer on the competitors and they are also planning a series of family and children’s events on the day before the duathlon, including a 5k fun run.

Vo2 Racing has evolved through the Tri Northumberland club, which has been successfully staging triathlons at Woodhorn and Newbiggin for the past four years and is now known as the North’s biggest event organiser of its kind.

“We are incredibly excited about staging this event in and around Morpeth town centre,” said Vo2 Racing’s Gary Wright.

“There has been a huge upsurge of interest from both spectators and competitors in the sport thanks in no small way to the success of the Brownlee brothers Alistair and Jonny in winning Gold and Bronze Medals for Team GB in the London Olympics triathlon.

“So we are hoping for a terrific turnout from both competitors and spectators for the race, which could become firmly established as not only a terrific event for Morpeth but as one of the top duathlons in the country.”

Those sentiments were echoed by David Lodge, Chief Executive of Greater Morpeth Development Trust, who also chairs the Morpeth Town Team. It was formed following a successful bid for £10,000 funding from the Mary Portas initiative to boost England’s town and city centres.

He said: “The duathlon will be one of a series of big events that will draw both local people and visitors into the town centre of Morpeth in 2013.

“The primary job of the Town Team is to put Morpeth on the map as a leading shopping and visitor destination in the region and the duathlon will be a great start to a busy 2013 for the town.”

Sponsors interested in supporting the Morpeth 2013 Duathlon can contact Mr Lodge by calling 01670 503866. Details of the race entry are also available at www.vo2maxracingevents.co.uk

Bedlington Terriers Res 1 Ponteland United 4 Northern Alliance, Division One

PONTELAND quickly overcame the rustiness as they recorded a comfortable victory ‘away’ to Bedlington Reserves.

They returned to action after a six-week absence owing to waterlogged grounds and Saturday’s game only went ahead because opponents Bedlington Terriers Reserves were willing to switch the fixture to Ponteland as their home pitch at Action Park Dudley was still waterlogged.

United were a bit rusty to start with, as passes were rushed and misplaced, whereas the visitors and current division leaders, despite similar inactivity, played with confidence and composure – with front men Scott Westaway and Dylan Williamson looking particularly dangerous.

It took a great challenge from Jack Bell to deny the fleet-footed Williamson as he sped for goal.

On 12 minutes, Williamson was clean through on goal and it took a brilliant save from Taylor to prevent the Terriers from taking the lead.

Pont came back into the match and had their first shot on goal after 15 minutes, albeit from distance by Billy Holden. Five minutes later, Dan Wright made a strong run down the left but his inviting cross just evaded the outstretched leg of the on-rushing Holden as he came sliding in with the goal beckoning.

On the half-hour mark, Rankin was brought down just outside the area and Hodgson’s pin-point free-kick was headed in by Wright.

The lead lasted only five minutes though and it was no surprise that it was Williamson who did the damage.

The gifted forward ran between the Pont defenders with his co-striker Westaway and shot on the turn past Taylor, with the Pont defence appealing for offside upon seeing the assistant’s flag fully raised.

The referee had already signalled for a goal though and after a discussion with the linesmen remained unmoved and awarded the goal.

This appeared to spur on Ponteland and Wright had an opportunity to restore the lead when through on keeper Martin but his shot was saved and the custodian earned his corn shortly afterwards, saving this time from L’Argent.

The first period of the second half became scrappy as tempers and frustration boiled over, with a few yellow cards being issued.

Holden was having a good encounter with defender Robbie Black and the game changed with half-an-hour to go when the pair went to ground and long after the ball had gone, the defender kicked Holden as he was getting up.

The referee had spotted the incident and had no alternative but to dismiss the Terriers’ centre-back. Pont’s manager Havelock then made some changes, bringing on Kent and Davidson for Holden and Rae, and this brought instant rewards.

With Bedlington down to 10 men, Ponteland capitalised on the extra space and Kent used his speed to score a 20-minute hat-trick.

The first came on 65 minutes when he finished clinically after a surging forward dribble, then 10 minutes later he pounced onto Davidson’s excellent through-ball and left everyone in his wake as he sped towards goal and confidently fired past Martin.

Bedlington suffered further when they had to withdraw Williamson to a hamstring problem and finally, with five minutes remaining, Wright made another strong run, this time down the right and squared the ball into the path of Kent, following up in support.

He fired first time into the roof of the net, giving Martin no chance.

Anderson had a glorious opportunity to extend the lead at the death and inflict further punishment on Bedlington when clean through on goal, but he miscued his shot on the bobbly surface.

Morpeth Sunday League round-up

IN the first round of the George Cave Cup, Bedlington Barrington arms recorded a fine 6-2 over Stakeford Half Moon thanks to a Dylan Williamson hat-trick, a brace from man-of-the-match David Scott and a fine goal from youngster Ryan Stafford.

Chris Dobey and Jamie Chapman netted the replies from the Half Moon.

Also in the George Cave Cup, Amble Tavern recorded a hefty 10-2 win away to Felton. On target for the Tavern were Sean Taylor (three) Chris Graham (three) Harry Turvey (two) and single strikes from Matty Graham and Brad Wake.

The Felton responses were both scored by Tony Brown.

In Division One, Pegswood remain top of the league and unbeaten after they defeated Amble Dock Hotel 8-1 thanks to four goals from Ashley McAlpine, a Stuart Marshall double and solitary goals from Mickey Adamson and Ross Donnelly.

In the Division’s only other game, Ashington RAOB won away 6-0 against Village Inn Longframlington with six different players finding the net.

Notching for The Buffs were Sean Gibson, Adam Ryder, Jake Gray, man-of-the-match Liam Davidson, Craig Robinson and Kevin Towers.

Ashington would also like to extend their sincere thanks to Ben Harmison who was playing his last game for the club due to his ongoing cricketing commitments, his efforts this season are greatly appreciated by everyone associated with the club.

In Division Two’s only game this week, HMP Northumberland overcame Amble Blue Bell 3-0 thanks to strikes from Liam McFarland, Sean Morfitt and a Matty Haymer penalty on the stroke of half-time.

IT was certainly a day of contrasting fortunes for a quartet of Morpeth Harriers who travelled to Edinburgh to take part in the annual Bupa International Cross Country event, held at the Scottish capital’s Holyrood Park, on Saturday, writes George Patterson.

While Alison Brown and Jacob Hopkins both had exceptional runs in their respective events, Jonathan Taylor and Ashley Gibson experienced extreme disappointments.

Brown ran well to finish 96th overall in the combined masses event over an approximate distance of 5k, and subsequently emerged as eighth female finisher in a total field of around 1,800 competitors.

She was also sixth female finisher from her particular section, in a time of 21m04s, additionally she was one of the youngest in the entire field, which outlines her performance proportionally was superb.

Hopkins was delighted to finish fourth in the younger age 2.5k event, and also highlights a much-welcome return to the sort of form he craves for after a lengthy spell of fitness problems, and disappointment.

His time of 7m42s was also only 19 seconds adrift of a podium spot.

Meanwhile in the Senior Men’s International 8k and Women’s Invitational 3k events, Morpeth’s Jonathan Taylor and Ashley Gibson had a frustrating time.

UK Trials Champion Taylor, also a key player in the GB and Northern Ireland silver medal-winning European Cross Country squad, faded to finish 16th and well adrift of the leading protagonists in the challenge against Europe and the USA.

He ended up as fourth counter behind a rejuvenated Andy Vernon (third), Tom Humphries (fourth), and team captain Steve Vernon (ninth).

After being well up with the leading pacemakers in early stages, he gradually fell backwards to finish nearly a minute adrift of the winner with his clocking of 25m19s.

GB and Northern Ireland finished as third team in the Men’s event behind winners USA, who were boosted by their team captain Bobby Mack leading the 31-strong field home.

Gibson tried to go with the early pace in the class-filled Women’s 3k event, which was won by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba in 9m46s.

Eventually, a disappointed Gibson trailed home in 14th and last place in 10m52s, but hopefully will take from the event some positives about the level of performance with which she was mixing.

l Richard Morrell had his very first victory in a Morpeth Harriers vest on Sunday, in the Old Monks Multi Terrain Race, held in his home town of Hartlepool.

He won with 37 seconds to spare over Durham City’s James Askew, in a time of 30m46s, with Sunderland Harrier Craig Isherwood taking third place in 32m02s.

Also prominent among the leading finishers was Morrell’s younger brother Adam, who finished 14th in 36m02s, and is currently transferring to Morpeth from his previous club, Middlesbrough and Cleveland.

Morpeth Harriers’ other finisher was Archie Jenkins, who was 82nd overall in 42m41s, and took the Over 60 Men’s title.

Morley 31 Morpeth 0 North One East

AFTER all the Christmas celebrations and games over the festive season including both the annual Snitter v Sheepwash, Boxing Day clash of the Titans and the hard-fought derby match against Alnwick, it was back down to earth for a Morpeth side who yet again went on another visit to Yorkshire where they faced an ebullient Morley outfit who are riding high in third place in the league.

It was also an increasingly young side with further injuries and unavailable personnel impacting on what has so far been a very encouraging season.

This was particularly true of a back line where both Phillips and Cunningham were absent.

The first half saw Morpeth’s pack causing the opposition some problems but the home backs continually causing problems for the Mitford Road side.

A score of 7-0 at half-time to Morley could have been greater had it not been for some mistimed passes which could easily have seen the lead be increased.

The second half was a mirror image of the first with the Morley back division causing repeated problems for the visitors who hung on and gave their all but the second-half scores put the home side out of sight for a well-deserved win against a Morpeth outfit who played with great resolve and were never found lacking for effort and endeavour.

The coming weeks see Morpeth at home to Cleckheaton, away to Durham and home to Darlington.

As the injuries and unavailability issues lessen, it is an opportunity to move further up the league, albeit these are all hard encounters with every side capable of beating each other on the day.

Ponteland 7 Alnwick 20 Durham and Northumberland, Division One

FAILURE to convert their chances cost Ponteland the chance to beat the league leaders on Saturday.

The home side started the game positively and for most of the first 20 minutes they built up some sustained pressure in the Alnwick 22. On two occasions, Pont drove over the try-line, but they could not ground the ball for a score.

In contrast, when the visitors were awarded a penalty just outside their 22, it was taken quickly and the ball was passed to one of their wingers. He showed excellent pace to race up to the other end and touch down for a try, which was converted.

Ponteland kept making good forward runs and they scored when Richard Moller broke through two tackles and offloaded to winger Pete Newbigin, who dived over in the corner. Michael Mullins successfully kicked over the conversion to make it 7-7 at half-time.

Alnwick started the second half well and had some pressure of their own, but the scores remained level for a number of minutes until Pont tried their own tap penalty outside their 22 and lost the ball in the breakdown. The away side drove forward and won a penalty, which was kicked between the posts.

Just two minutes later, a good move was finished off by the impressive winger for his and Alnwick’s second try and soon afterwards, the lead was extended to 13 points when another penalty attempt was successful.

The home side battered away at the visitors’ line in the last ten minutes of the game, but Pont could not get the try that would have secured them a losing bonus point.

Ponteland RFC Director of Rugby, John Chappell, said: “The difference was that we had five or six good chances and only converted one, whereas Alnwick had two decent opportunities and took them both.

“But overall, it was a good performance and it will give the lads confidence for the rest of the season.”

Morpeth Town 9 Darlington RA 1 Ebac Northern League, Division Two

MORPETH started the New Year in style after registering a club record score of 9-1 against a Darlington RA side who started the day two places above the Highway Men in the table.

Match referee Mark Hedley gave the game the go-ahead after a lengthy pitch inspection and the hard work of the Morpeth ground staff, who had been working on the pitch since first light, was certainly rewarded with a scintillating display of attacking football.

On seven minutes the Town midfield trio of Grant, Fry and Keenan linked up in a fine passing move to carve open the Darlington defence. Keenan took the ball to the byline and his low cross was turned into the net by Chilton.

The hosts doubled their advantage on the quarter hour when an Anderson corner caused panic in the Darlington defence and Dines was able to capitalise to head home – injured in the process he was replaced by Darwent.

Darlington RA regained their composure and after a period of sustained possession, Butterworth burst into the penalty area and was impeded. Muir dispatched the resultant penalty.

Morpeth substitute Darwent started to dominate on the left and after forcing a smart save from Calvert, his deep cross on 30 minutes was headed home by Anderson to make it 3-1.

Five minutes later, Chilton drove forward from midfield and fired an unstoppable shot into the top left-hand corner of the net. On 40 minutes, Darwent was brought down in the box. Whensley contested the decision and received a red card for his troubles.

Chilton converted the spot-kick to complete his hat-trick.

Anderson scored the goal of the game ten minutes into the second half – bursting down the right he caught Calvert out with a sublime chip to make it 6-1.

The Highway Men continued to take the game to their opponents and on the hour Fry scored from distance. A minute later, Chilton headed against a post but was on hand to bundle the rebound into the net (8-1).

Deep into injury time, Darwent linked up with Walmsley on the right and his low cross found Chilton who scored his fifth goal of the game and Morpeth’s ninth.

This was Town’s largest margin of victory since the 8-0 defeat of Norton & Stockton Ancients in the promotion season of 1995-96.

The Highway Men have now moved up to seventh in the table with games in hand on all the clubs above them, three of whom Morpeth play this month.

Morpeth travel to league leaders Crook Town on Saturday, with the return at Craik Park on the following Wednesday, kick-off is 7.30pm.

Sixth-placed North Shields then visit Craik Park before two fixtures against third-placed Seaham Red Star.

Morpeth Town line-up: Wells, Tumilty, Walmsley, Grant, Hall, Dunn (Henderson), Dines (Darwent), Fry, Anderson, Chilton, Keenan (Scott).

Rusty’s Taxis man-of-the-match: Michael Chilton.

MORPETH Golf Club’s previous lady captain did an excellent fund-raising drive for a regional charity.

Audrey Pattison’s nominated good cause for her year in the role, which ran from November 2011 to November 2012, was St Oswald’s Hospice.

She recently handed over a cheque for £2,146.50, which will go to its children’s unit, after collecting money from various well-supported activities such as knitting, baking, sewing and raffles.

Part of this total (£940) was raised from a special event featuring her son, Richard. He did an audio-visual presentation about his mountain climbing over the last decade, including his successful expeditions to Mount Everest and Ama Dablam in the Himalayan region.

THE biggest senior football league in Northumberland is seeking additional sponsors.

With 48 member clubs across three divisions, and also encompassing teams from Durham and Cumberland, the 123-year-old Northern Football Alliance is keen to find partners who would like to support the local grassroots game.

League Secretary Derek Booth said: “All sponsorship monies which the league receives are given to the member clubs in various forms, such as deductions from league and cup fees, deductions from personal accident insurance premiums and so on, so you really can give a big helping hand to the game, clubs and players in the North East and Cumbria.

“The league is a non-profit organisation and officers and officials are voluntary and do not receive any remuneration.

“We hold a prestigious Sportsman’s Dinner in October each year at which a well-recognised ex-footballer is the main speaker.

“Ex-Wales international and current national assistant manger John Hartson was the speaker last year and we have got Paul Merson lined up to be the main speaker this year.

“Any sponsors will feature prominently and I hope that people will consider supporting the Northern Football Alliance League.”

The Alliance is operated by four directors of a holding company and a management committee of 20, which includes eight club representatives. If anyone requires further information, they can contact Mr Booth via his email at defcderekb@hotmail.com or call him on 07758 666855.

l The Northern Alliance has been drawn away to the Cheshire County League in the FA Inter-League Cup Preliminary Round.

Its management committee has approached three sides to provide the players for the competition – Amble United, Carlisle City and Heaton Stannington.

The FA Inter-League Cup is a competition for footballers who have never had a professional contract, giving the winners the opportunity to represent England in the UEFA Regions Cup.

l Clubs seeking to apply for membership of the Northern Football Alliance for season 2013/14 are reminded that application forms are now available from Mr Booth. Fully-completed forms must be returned before March 31.

l Talking back to match officials will now hit some sides harder in the pocket after the FA introduced a new fines system.

As part of the Respect campaign which aims to promote good behaviour, Alliance Premier Division clubs, who sit at Step 7 of the National League System, will have to pay £75 if they accrue 15 sanctions for dissent, £150 for 20 sanctions and 25 will be dealt with a charge under FA Rule E20.

One Alliance side has been hit with a £75 fine this season and another warned after reaching 10 cautions.

l Have you played, officiated or been an administrator in the Northern Football Alliance? Have you got any great memories or funny stories from your time in the league? The league is planning to do a book for its 125th anniversary in 2015 and it is asking those involved over the years to get in touch with some anecdotes.

If you, or anyone that you know, would like to contribute a story, email press officer Jon Tait at the following address – jonmarktait@aol.com

IT was very much a blank weekend on the outdoor competitive front for Morpeth Harriers and the rest of the North East athletics fraternity due to heavy snowstorms that enveloped the region from Friday afternoon.

Earlier in the week, the wintry weather also led to the cancellation of the Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships, scheduled to be held at Temple Park Leisure Centre, South Shields.

At the time of going to press, they have subsequently been re-organised for Tuesday, January 29.

But one event that did take place uninterrupted was the third in the series of Gateshead College indoor events, which took place last Thursday.

Several Morpeth Harriers took part, and their performances were as follows.

In the Under 13 Girls’ 60m, newcomer Lauren Eadington showed great promise in her first outing in a Morpeth vest when she superbly finished as second fastest of the night in 9.27s.

Nadine Arkle was eighth fastest in the same age group in 9.80s.

Another excellent Morpeth debutant in the Senior Men’s 60m was David Storey, who firstly finished sixth in round one of two rounds in 7.77s, then achieved a slight improvement to 7.72s when placing fifth in the second round.

Craig Pickup achieved best figures of 8.97m when finishing fourth in the Senior Men’s shot.

Back on the track, Morpeth Harrier Henrik Paulsen came sixth in the Junior Men’s 60m round one in a time of 8.07s.

The club had three athletes competing in the Under 15 Girls’ 60m, which was well subscribed with around two dozen in action.

Naomi Arkle proved to best of these three when placing 17th fastest in 9.15s.

Morpeth debutants Shannon Docherty and Grace Tighe finished 19th and 22nd respectively with times of 9.35s and 9.95s.

Kirsty Lang competed in the Under 17 Women’s 60m, where she finished as fourth in round two in 8.88s.

l On Saturday, weather permitting, athletes from Morpeth Harriers will be in action at the North of England Cross Country Championships – scheduled to be held at Knowsley Safari Park, near Prescott, on Merseyside.

The club’s strongest performances are likely to come from their Senior Men and it is hoped that their Under 13 and Under 15 Boys will show prominently.

MORPETH-BASED SGR Racing has announced that it has signed young Scottish racer Jason Vernon from Dumfriesshire for the forthcoming 2013 season.

The team will once again be contesting the British Monster Energy Motostar Championship, where Jason can be also be included in the Cup category as well as the main race due to being under the age limit of 16.

Steve Kinghorn, Team Manager of SGR Racing, said: “We are so excited to get the opportunity of running Jason and bringing him to the premier level of motorcycle racing in the UK.

“Our whole aim as a team is to be a stepladder for young talent to get a great grounding in top-level motorcycle racing and help them further their careers, hopefully onto MotoGP level.”

He and his staff are looking to start testing early in February, subject to weather conditions, ahead of the start of the 2013 season in early April at the Brands Hatch Circuit in Kent.

SGR Racing would like to thank all its sponsors and welcome on board Motorcyclecompensation.com which is backing the team for the coming season.

If anyone thinks they can help Jason and SGR Racing with this year and beyond, contact the team via email – sgrracing@tiscali.co.uk

STUDENTS from three Morpeth schools were regional winners of a team long-distance event, it has been revealed.

The announcement from organisers of the World Marathon Challenge came after pupils aged between 11 and 13 from The Three Rivers Learning Trust – King Edward VI High School and Chantry and Newminster Middle Schools – took part in the event earlier in the winter.

Schoolchildren across the world ran a relay around a running track, yard or field on the same day and each team accumulated a full marathon distance. More than 50 boys and girls from the Morpeth trio were divided into two teams and the quickest time of 2h20m49s was the best in the North East.

Save the Children promotes the challenge, which informs young people of the problems facing their peers in different countries, raises public awareness of the key issues and presses leaders and Governments to make tackling global hunger a bigger priority.

Pauline Duffy from the charity came along to a special assembly at KEVI to talk about what it is doing to support needy children and present The Three Rivers Learning Trust with a silver salver to mark its achievement.

ENTRIES are being sought for this year’s ‘4 for the North’ endurance riding competition.

The Northumberland & Tyneside Group (N&T) of Endurance GB (EGB) are once again administering the unique event, which adds an extra competitive element to graded rides.

The format takes into account both speed and heart rates to calculate points and it is suitable for both up-and-coming and experienced horses alike.

Most of the endurance events across Durham, Northumberland, Cumbria, North Yorkshire and the Borders are included as eligible rides – with the best four results counting to the end-of-season awards.

The aim is to promote good preparation and skilled riding. Riding at a speed suited to the terrain, avoiding elimination by the vet and finishing with a low final heart rate (for the horse, that is) will achieve the best results.

The Cottee class is open to N&T members only and covers rides of between 30km and 52km. This trophy was donated by Doreen Cottee in memory of her husband Ken, who himself enjoyed the sport of endurance riding with his Arab horse Ashraaf.

The Bedmax class is open to any EGB or Scottish Endurance Riding Club member that competes in the 48km and over rides at eligible events.

Katy Carr was the winner of the 2012 Cottee Trophy with her horse Karita Super Star. They received an engraved trophy and embroidered cooler rug. Second was Janet Lennard on Linnelwood Digby and Sarah O’Neill, riding Swinhope Dylan, was third.

The winner of the 2012 Bedmax Trophy was Kathleen McGhee riding Foxghylls Folly, who were given an engraved trophy and an embroidered rug. Jackie Lloyd was second with her horse Zim Nazka, who received an embroidered saddlecloth, and in third place was Constance Newbould with Zarkhruv, who received an embroidered fleece jacket.

For more information about taking part in the competition and to keep up-to-date with ride results throughout the year, visit the N&T group’s website – www.egbnorthumberlandandtyneside.co.uk

Results are also sent out by email to all 4 for the North entrants throughout the season, enabling competitors to compare their progress against others.

MORPETH Rugby Club’s first XV captain believes his side is close to finding the right formula that will see them go on a winning run in the final few months of the season.

And Paul Mooney is looking forward to the Northumberland County Cup final in April when they take on Percy Park.

In the league (North One East), the Mitford Road men are currently in eighth position after winning seven games and losing nine.

Off the pitch, things are progressing nicely as the sevens tournament gets bigger each year and the club’s inaugural beer festival will be held in April.

Mooney said: “Pretty much all the teams in this league can beat each other on the day and we’ve had quite a few tight matches so far this season.

“Once again, we’ve been very competitive and we’re not far off fully clicking as a team and putting a set of good results together. It’s very unlikely that a rugby team goes through the season without picking up a few injuries and we’ve been hit during this campaign, but it has given us the chance to play some talented young players.

“Craig Donnelly, Alex Tait and Callum Duncan – who are still part of or have recently moved up from the Colts squad – have all made their first XV debuts this season and they acquitted themselves well.

“The county cup final against a team who are doing well in the league above us will be a good test and we will be able to see where we are in comparison.

“The events programme is going from strength to strength and hopefully it will lead to more people coming along to the bar and to support our teams.”

The captain got injured in the sixth game of the season and he admitted that he was unlikely to return before the end of the campaign.

Morpeth will be strong favourites if they return to action on Saturday as they will be facing bottom side Durham City.

MORPETH Harriers’ team heroes of the day at Saturday’s North of England Cross Country Championships were undoubtedly their Senior Men after they very handsomely won a set of bronze team medals, writes George Patterson.

The event, held for the very first time at Knowsley Safari Park, Merseyside, went ahead mainly thanks to the efforts of the safari park and local athletics club officials, who were all up at dawn to begin a massive operation to organise snow clearance.

It was indeed a very ‘tigerish’ performance by Morpeth Harrier Lewis Timmins when he led his club home by finishing an individual 12th.

Richard Morrell, having his first major championship in a Morpeth vest, was next to come home in 19th place and he was closely followed in two places later by Matt Nicholson, who produced one of his best runs ever for the club in respect of the tricky conditions he was facing.

Further excellent squad support came in the form of Graeme Taylor, Ross Floyd, and Jordan Scott, who followed each other home in 39th, 40th, and 41st places respectively with only ten seconds dividing them, closing the Morpeth Harriers team score.

It was indeed an excellent all-round team effort, including those of the non-scorers with Ben Harrison finishing 81st, Thomas Straughan 100th and Paul Waterston coming home in 150th place, which clearly outlined an excellent effort as nearly 600 Senior Men faced the starter.

Leeds City were the team winners, with Stockport Harriers taking second.

Commenting afterward on his squad’s performance, Morpeth Harriers Men’s Road and Cross Country Team Manager David Swinburne said: “I felt that the team responded quite positively to the conditions and the fact that all nine who had turned out were in the top third of the entire field showed a definite renewed strength in depth, a factor that will prove very valuable in forthcoming competitions.”

Another source of satisfaction was that the club’s Senior Men were winning medals again in the Northern Cross Country Championships, an achievement that hadn’t been realised since as far back as 2003 when Swinburne himself had been a member of an illustrious six who claimed silver medals at Heaton Park in Manchester.

In addition to their achievement, there were also some good quality performances from Morpeth Harriers athletes in other supporting events.

Particularly of note was that of Kieran Hedley in the Under 13 Boys’ 3k event. Despite the tricky surface, he ran very positively throughout and after a very good and determined start, he stuck to the task in hand to come home in an excellent seventh place out of 125 finishers.

Kieran was only a mere seven seconds adrift of a medal winning achievement, such was the outstanding quality of his run.

Unfortunately, and somewhat disappointingly, he had no one to share his triumph with from Morpeth Harriers in his age group, leaving a no-show in team affairs.

Another excellent individual performer on the day was Alison Brown, who no doubt had probably one of the longest journeys on the day, having come from her Berwick base.

She battled her way round her two-lap 5.3k Under 17 Women’s course to finish a superb 29th of 90 finishers, and beat some of her worthy North East opponents into the bargain.

In the Senior Women’s 8k event, which was two hard and gruelling laps of what was now fast becoming a well-churned-up course of mud base underneath melting snow, Morpeth Harriers’ lone starter Emma Holt (formerly Pearson) very much used her triathlete strengths to come home an excellent 31st of 217 finishers.

Unfortunately, lack of further team support denied her sharing what could have very easily resulted in a set of team medals.

Another lone starter on the day for Morpeth Harriers was Charlotte Jewell. She gave a very polished and determined performance to finish 45th of 126 finishers in the Under 15 Girls’ one-lap 4k event and was fourth of 12 from the North East.

A very strong field of 107 finishers in the Under 17 Men’s two-lap 5.8k event saw Morpeth Harrier Philip Winkler battle his way through to finish 47th. Clubmate Elliot Kelly also battled to stay in contention, but found the going tough when he came home in 65th place.

Unfortunately, Joe Elder did not have the best of preparations for his race, arriving at the venue with only a few minutes to spare having made the fateful error in journeying via the M6 hoping for a clearer route. He persevered to finish 105th.

Morpeth Harriers’ only other team finishers on the day were their Under 15 Boys, who were disappointed to finish as 16th team in their one-lap 4k event.

Leading the squad home was Ryan Green, who was well up with the leading contenders in the early stages, however faded to finish 85th as the event progressed.

The other club finishers in this age group were Jacob Hopkins (113th), Jarod Lewis (126th), and Euan Jones (134th).

A final vote of thanks must go to Northern Athletics for its determination in getting a good team together to ensure that the event took place when other regional events had not survived.

• Morpeth Harriers have now completed presentations of the Benfield Motor Group Athlete of the Month awards for November and December 2012.

The respective awards went to Under 15 athlete Ryan Green for his excellent course record-breaking run at the Heaton Memorial Road Races and to Under 17 Philip Winkler for his superb run in difficult conditions at the North Eastern Cross Country Championships at Hartlepool, where he finished fifth.

ONE of the oldest cricket clubs in Northumberland will soon have a state-of-the-art home after securing Olympic legacy funding.

A grant of £50,000 from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities Fund has been awarded to Mitford Cricket Club to help rebuild the current pavilion, which has been in place since 1920.

The club has been a central focus of the village since its inception in 1894 and thousands of people have enjoyed playing for its junior and senior teams over the years.

The redevelopment will include new changing rooms, kitchen facilities and facilities for younger players. It will now allow the club to expand its junior cricket activity and further develop the relationships with local schools, which will also make use of the facilities.

Club Captain Andrew Lees said: “The only thing the old building had going for it is that if it was struck by lightning it wouldn’t catch fire because of the damp.

“The club is very much on the up as the first XI have won the Alnwick and District League two years in a row and the second XI were victorious in the T20 competition in their division of the West Tyne League.

“Our junior section is thriving too and they will enjoy the benefits of the other improvements we can now afford to make to the ground.”

The Inspired Facilities Fund is part of the £135million Places People Play legacy programme that is bringing the momentum of last year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in London into communities across the country. Every sports facility that receives some money, provided through the National Lottery, will carry the London 2012 Inspire mark.

Mitford Cricket Club Chairman Mike Sharp said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment, which means we can rebuild our pavilion and provide a great facility for our existing players, but more importantly for the young players we have coming through, those we will bring to the club and to enhance the schools cricket we hope to be playing here in the next season.

“It is the cornerstone of our strategy to have an outstanding club for the 2012 Olympics’ legacy.”

Sport England recently launched a further £10million funding round to help local community sports groups upgrade their facilities. Applications can be made from March 4.

For more information, visit www.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities

TWO high-profile equestrian events will take place at Northumberland College’s Kirkley Hall campus this summer.

The campus, located near Ponteland, will be hosting British Eventing and Affiliated British Dressage this June.

It was selected to host the competitions on the strength of its equine facilities. It has a 25-horse stable yard, eight DIY stables for students, a demonstration area, two floodlit 60x30m outdoor all-weather arenas, a cross-country course and a 50x25m indoor riding arena.

The events are expected to attract hundreds of competitors and spectators from all over the North East and further afield and will strengthen Northumberland’s presence in the eventing and dressage calendar.

Vice Principal of the Kirkley Hall campus, Marcus Clinton, has vast expertise and knowledge of the equestrian industry. He is currently a British Show Jumping Association Judge and was previously chairman of The British Horse Society in Staffordshire.

He also wrote and released the book Horse Business Management and has previously organised hundreds of affiliated and unaffiliated equine competitions including Horse Trials.

Mr Clinton said: “We were delighted to find out that Kirkley Hall had been selected to host the competitions. We have some fantastic facilities here and it will be a great opportunity to showcase them.

“Together with the unaffiliated shows currently held here, the new events will form part of a regular show calendar. They will provide the opportunity for riders of all levels to compete and develop, as well as support youngsters and emerging talent which is central to the college’s mission.

“Events like these are great for networking and for the talents of the competitors to be recognised. They allow us to engage with and become a hub for the rural industries and provide a fantastic learning environment for our students who will be fully involved.”

The inaugural British Eventing One Day Event takes place on Sunday, June 9 and annually thereafter.

It will see riders and their horses compete in the three disciplines of dressage, show jumping and cross country. There will also be stalls and hospitality available.

The main sponsor of the One Day Event will be Close House, the owner of which is leading racehorse owner Graham Wylie.

The Affiliated Dressage event, which will take place on Saturday, June 29, and will run monthly thereafter, will see competitors compete on the new indoor riding surface, which is the same type of surface used at the London 2012 Olympics.

Kirkley Hall Equestrian Centre Manager John Tilley knows the importance of affiliated competitions.

He was selected for an Olympics training programme after several top placings in British Eventing competitions were recognised.

He said: “It’s great to be able to organise these new events – having been a competitor myself for many years I know from experience what competitors want from a good competition.

“I am really looking forward to providing top quality competitions here at Kirkley Hall.”

The campus offers a wide range of equine courses, from Level One up to HND level. Course information can be found at www.northumber land.ac.uk

More information about the competitions and how to enter them can be found online at www.britisheventing.co.uk and www.britishdressage.co.uk