One Item of news that slipped through the net during the holiday season was the winning of the Midland league title with our joint Yate/B&W team, only a year after getting promotion to Div 1 !!! I remember last year everyone having real concerns we may not be able to stay up! This is a real credit to our team effort filling spaces great performances and support from officials and families! Attached is Matts report for the day.
Thank you to Matt Muggeridge who has been team manager for this and many years before his hard work both on and off the track is really appreciated and with this division win, his GB vest this year and recent no 1 ranking, it great to see his efforts being reward both on and off the track too!!!
So here is the report From Matt
MATCH REPORT
FOURTH MIDLAND LEAGUE
SATURDAY 5th AUGUST AT NOTTS
Saturday 5th August was the fourth and final match of the 2017 Midland League series. This one was tricky due to holiday season, and a clash with the World Champs in London, which took several of our regulars, including myself, out of contention, so we fielded a relatively small team.
The conditions were challenging weather wise I have been told, and there was a saga relating to the suitability of the PV bed in the run up to the match, but the athletes who attended did a fantastic job, both in their main events, and also filling in the gaps that we had on the day. All of this resulted in a second place finish in an incredibly close match (every point literally did count in this one), to finish the season in style.
Overall for 2017, we have won 2 matches and been runner up in the other two, leaving us clear victors of the league overall. This is the first time in the history of the club, I believe, that we have been part of a team that has won the 1st division of the Midland Senior League, and is a fantastic achievement.
For a bit of history; In 2013 the composite team was formed and came 4th in Division 2; 3rd the following year and 2nd in 2015 to be promoted to the top Division for 2016 when we retained our place. In 2017 we were clear winners of the Division. This shows amazing progression.
Yate AC members who made up the team (male): Daniel Brooks (U17), Adam Brooks (U20), Joe Connors (U20), Matt Spicer (V45), David Thomas (U17), Tom Pallot (U20), Josh Snook (U20), Luke Lorenzi (U23) & Eugene Lawlor (V60)
Yate AC members who made up the team (female): Lucy Durham (U17), Jo Smerdon (U23), Lucy Conibear (U20) & Hattie Dent (U23)
There were once again some fantastic performances across the board from both Bristol and West and Yate athletes, and a key element to this match was the flexibility of the athletes to have a go at events they were less comfortable with, to pick up those extra points.
I would like to thank all the athletes who have competed in the league over the 2017 season. In total, 23 Men and 15 Ladies have come forward to compete in this league over the 4 matches, ranging in age from 15 to 60 years old.
I look forward to 2018, where hopefully our athlete numbers will increase further, and we will be able to repeat this amazing feat.
Matt Muggeridge
Midland League Team Manager
