Compass Sport Silver (again!)
A sterling team effort by the North Sea in Cleveland came up just short, as Forth Valley Orienteers finished in silver medal position in the final of the British Club Championship for the Compass Sport Cup, by just five points, for a 5th consecutive year.
South Yorkshire extended their winning run to a fifth straight year, but were pushed hard by FVO, with the final SYO scorer coming home off the last starter of the day. What looked on paper like another SYO circus of course wins failed to materialise, as they won only two of their projected nine courses, but the real difference came as their fringe performers outdid themselves to eke out a narrow win.
The Men's Open win went to Peter Molloy in 49.03, and Chris Smithard was 3rd in 51.39, both one place ahead of their projected finish, as the expected winner retired.
There was an intriguing contest on the Short Brown course, where Graham Gristwood and James Hammond came together for the first time at this level. The pair have been major points-winners for FVO in the Compass Sport Cup in recent years, but on this occasion Graham took a narrow win in 38,45, three second ahead of James.
The Women's Open course wasn't expected to be a major points-winner, but Laura Hindle managed to get in six places ahead of her ranking to get onto the team scoreboard, and there were two two FVO scorers on Green Women, as Laura Brown was 4th (32.21) and Janine Inman was 7th (35.49).
No messing though in Blue Men, which was projected as a key target, and Dave Godfree took maximum points in 38.56, ably supported by Marcus Pinker, who was 3rd (45.31). The Vet Green class highlight from an FVO perspective was an excellent 2nd place for Hazel Dean in 37.49, again right on ranking, with a number of other athletes not scoring, but blocking out better-ranked athletes to help the team total.
On paper, the Green men aren't the strongest weapon in our arsenal, and pre-race, they weren't expected to feature on the scoreboard. However, they turned in one of those memorable days that lives long in the memory; no podium finishes, but exceptional runs from Martin Dean (15 places better than ranking), Gary Longhurst (+11), Trevor Hoey (+11) and Rhys Stanwix (+3).
There was double success on Orange, with one expected and one surprise course win. Lucas Baikie came in as the #1 seed on the boys course, and backed it up with victory in 15.55, Esme Finch wasn't tipped to win the Orange girls course, with several better-regarded athletes in the field, but she did what had to be done on a fast course, coming back in 29.28 for the win.
The final points were scored on the UltraVet course, with a double. Liz Godfree is better known as a Sprinter, but has plenty of terrain ability too, and she was 2nd on the course in 56.46. Gareth Bryan-Jones was out on his first TD5 course in 12 months, but showed no rustiness, as he was 3rd in 57.06.