CROYDON Harriers senior cross-country team all but sealed their place in the third tier of the Surrey League for next year after an impressive outing at Lloyd Park on Saturday, writes Matthew Kiernan.

The hosts finished as runners-up and are second overall in the league with one match to go, well clear of third-placed Sutton Runners.

James Buchanan was the first of the 12-strong team home, placing fourth in a formidable time of 29mins 39secs over the five-mile course.

Good packing paid dividends for Harriers with Ian Wright (13th, 32:56), David Brown (19th, 34:36), Julian Dillow (20th, 34:37) and Colin Oxlade (22nd, 34:43) all enjoying good outings.

The other scorers were Ali Kiplakiran (27th, 35:48), Martin Rowe (28th, 35:53), Andy Del Nevo (33rd, 36:28), Mike Dawson (43rd, 38:11) and Norman Hemming (54th, 40:55).

In the 2.5-mile young athlete's race, Peter Chambers took the honours in 15:24 with Jack Thoroughgood (fourth, 16:04), Patrick Lucas (fifth, 16:29) and Ben Savill (11th, 17:34) in close contention, ensuring Croydon topped the U17/U15 team standings too.

Croydon's U13s also ran out worthy winners with Josh Haasz (second, 17:34) first scorer, while Stirling Gibbons (10th, 18:35) and Kartik Iyer (11th, 18:38) fought it out to complete the team.