relegation confirmed as storm rages at senior league finale

There were testing conditions - including a mini tornado, no less - as Morpeth Harriers Senior Men and Women completed their 2025 NESDL Track and Field programme by finishing fifth of six competing teams at Shildon 2000 Stadium on Saturday 19 July.
Unfortunately, on the day, it was not near enough the result to keep them in the top tier of the competition for 2026, and they will face life in Division 2 next Summer.
To be honest, it would have taken a very strong performance to avoid the drop - perhaps even an overall team victory would made for a close call. And, while Team Manager George Patterson could not hide his disappointment with the season overall, he was full of praise for those who had taken part throughout the four fixtures, and had showed a general willingness to participate in less familiar events throughout the course of a very busy season.
He also felt that he had done all he could to steer the squad in the right direction, but the general turnout had been insufficient to survive.
After five years in the position, he has decided to step down, and next season the fortunes of the club at Senior level, will rest firmly in the hands of a new person.
On to the match itself, where nine men, and seven women took part in the Morpeth colours, with the best result in the Men coming in the 1500m, where Chris Coulson won the A race in 4m02.71s, James Tilley took the B race in 4m04.33s, and Ollie Tomlinson produced an additional Morpeth performance in 4m26.43s.
Coulson also won the B race of the 800m in 2m02.72s, supporting Peter Smallcombe’s A race performance, where he finished second in 1m58.0s.
It was a superb father and son act in the 100m, where Trevor Hodgson finished second in the A race in 11.76s, and William, still and Under 17 athlete, finished an excellent second in the B race in 12.01s.
William also finished second in the 200m, in 24.77s.
Alistair Douglass very bravely got out of his sickbed to run in the 400m, where he finished second in 24.77s, however was despatched straight back home afterwards, rendering him unable to accompany Hodgson in the 200m.
Andrew Mirfield, who had earlier in the day ran the 3000m, finished third in the B race of the 400m, posting a finishing time of 59.76s.
In the 3000m, Tom Innes finished second in the A race in 9m34.19s, with Mirfield finishing second in the B race in 9m50.31s.
Morpeth finished second in the Men’s 4 x 100m Relay to Gateshead in 51.66s, courtesy of Wiilliam and Trevor Hodgson, Chris Coulson, and Peter Smallcombe.
Ollie Tomlinson and Tom Innes were very much the workhorses in the Men’s Field Events for Morpeth.
Both competed in no less than three events each.
For Tomlinson’s part, he finished fifth in the A string Long Jump (3.49m), sixth in the A string Discus (17.24m), and sixth in the A string Javelin (16.78m).
Innes partnered Tomlinson in two of his events, by finishing fifth in the B string Discus (13.14m), and third in the B string Javelin (14.92m).
He also finished sixth in the B string Shot Putt (4.14m), where Andrew Mirfield was sixth in the A string, with a best of 5.82m.
The Morpeth Women’s events saw a club debut for Northern Under 20 Women’s 1500m Champion Darcey Tullis, and a comeback to club competition for Abigail Leiper following a couple of years of Study and Travelling.
Tullis and Leiper lined up together in the 800m, where the former finished second in the A race in 2m25.03s, and the latter won the B race in 2m39.91s.
In the 1500m, Tullis finished second to prolific Gateshead athlete Jess Sails, posting a finishing time of 5m04.68s.
Abigail Leiper marked her Morpeth competitive comeback well, when she added to her 800m win, by taking victory in the B race of the 400m in 75.94s. giving excellent support to Kirsty Burville’s equally excellent A race run of 73.68s, which saw her finish second.
Burville had earlier in the day finished third in the 3000m in 11m18.13s.
Once again it was left to Ellie Wicken’s to fly the Morpeth flag in the sprint events.
She had her best run in the 200m, finishing third in 28.21s, and she finished fifth in the 100m in 13.78s.
In both events she had been up against Gateshead Junior International Susan Folorunso, who on the day achieved a sprint double.
Wickens lined up along with Charlotte Earl, and Tullis and Leiper, to bring Morpeth Women’s 4 x 100m Relay squad home in 56.78s, for third place behind Gateshead and Darlington.
Earl, making her first Morpeth appearance of the season, and Wicken’s were a most formidable partnership in the Long Jump and Triple Jump events.
The Long Jump saw Earl win the A string with a best effort of 5.02m, with Wickens taking the B string with 3.97m
A double victory was also achieved in the Triple Jump, where Earl took the A string with 11.18m, and Wickens again took the B string with a best of 9.04m.
It was good to see Claire Reid back in competitive action, following being unluckily injured in match one in April.
Although a little restricted, she did manage to complete four throwing events.
She finished fourth in the A string competitions of both the Shot Putt and Discus competitions with bests of 8.70m, and 25.51m respectively, and she finished fifth in the A strings of the Javelin and Hammer competitions, producing respective bests of 15.20m and 20.66m.
Fellow Veteran Woman Vina Desai partnered Reid in the B strings of the Discus, Javelin, and Hammer, finishing fifth in the Discus and Javelin with respective bests of 11.46m and 7.47m, plus a third in the Hammer (13.84m), in addition to a stint of officiating as a Morpeth Harriers requirement on the day, notably the Men’s Javelin, which was the match’s final event, and was held during a horrendous rainstorm, accompanied by the aforementioned tornado, that also severely damaged several properties in nearby Bishop Auckland.
It felt as though Armageddon really had landed, as Morpeth were hanging on the precipice of relegation. You couldn’t make it up.
MATCH RESULT
1st Gateshead Harriers 421pts, 2nd Darlington 399pts, 3rd Wallsend/Blyth 366pts, 4th Blaydon/Elswick 296pts, 5th Morpeth Harriers 274pts, 6th North Shields Poly 159pts.
OVERALL LEAGUE RESULT
1st Gateshead Harriers 22pts (1654), 2nd Wallsend/Blyth 20pts (1567), 3rd Darlington Harriers 17pts (1467), 4th Blaydon/Elswick 10pts (1162), 5th North Shields Poly 9pts (1085), 6th Morpeth Harriers 6pts (1007).
(Total Match Points in brackets).