10:40am Thursday 29th July 2010
By Tom Pollak
To have any hopes of avoiding relegation, Belgrave Harriers must finish in the top two in the third of this season’s four British Athletics League Premiership matches at Thames Valley Athletics Centre tomorrow (Saturday).
Belgrave finished last and second-last in their opening matches at Hendon and Birmingham and it will take something of a miracle to turn the situation round, particularly with the likes of sprinter Dwain Chambers and triple jumper Phillips Idowu in action in Barcelona.
The bottom two sides will be relegated at the end of the season.
Premiership standings after two matches: 1 Birchfield 14; 2 Newham & Essex Beagles 13; 3 Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 12; 4 City of Manchester 10; 5 Shaftesbury Barnet 9.5; 6 Enfield & Haringey 7; 7 Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow 3.5; 8 Belgrave 3.
Herne Hill Harriers face a long trip to Leeds for their third National Two match.
With a third-placed finish in Derby followed by sixth-place in Derby, Herne Hill have a four-point cushion over the bottom three teams.
National Two standings after two matches: 1 Harrow 15; 2 Crawley 15; 3 Notts 10; 4 Derby 10; 5 Herne Hill Harriers 9; 6 Thames Valley Harriers 5; 7 Leeds City 5; 8 Cambridge Harriers 3.
Kingston & Polytechnic are poised to gain promotion to National Two, having won their opener at Hendon and finished as runners-up in their second match at Yeovil.
They face a relatively simple trip to Southampton tomorrow.
National Three standings after two matches: 1 Exeter 15 (644 match points); 2 Kingston & Polytechnic 15 (639); 3 Southend 12; 4 Havering Mayesbrook 8; 5 Yeovil Olympiads 8; 6 Bournemouth 7; 7 Swansea 5; 8 Southampton 2.
Herne Hill and Belgrave also in action in a UK Women’s League Division Three match at Mountbatten Stadium, Portsmouth, on Sunday.
Herne Hill won their home match at Kingsmeadow at the beginning of the month.
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