Matt springs surprise on Bexhill Down

Whereas Goodall's victory was not unexpected, Basford's came right out of the blue. Basford has run some steady races this season but few would have picked him as the winner before Saturday's event. Indeed, with less than 800 metres of the 5km race to go, he was running well in fifth place with the medal placings appearing to have been sewn up. But over the closing stages the race was turned on its head as Basford closed on the leaders, who had no response to his finishing pace, and he pulled clear to win impressively in 17min 16sec, six seconds clear of Eastbourne's Fraser Weir. Competing in the under-17 women's event, which was held in conjunction with the senior 5km race, Goodall treated the event more as a training run as she is looking towards the next track season. Laying back in the field for the first half of the race, Goodall pulled through strongly in the closing stages to finish seventh overall in 19min 49sec, 17 seconds clear of her nearest under-17 rival. As in the first race at Goodwood, the Lewes squad were clear winners of the team event, with Natalie Collins finishing fourth in 21min 05sec, Belinda Norris fifth in 21min 16sec and Monica Walton sixth in 21min 51sec. In the senior women's race Vicky Boyle from Seaford had a good run to finish eighth in 29min 16sec, with Peacehaven's Chris Naylor breathing down her neck in ninth place in 20min 18sec. Julie Briggs (Crawley) had won the race in18min 47sec. The senior men's four-lap 8km race saw Hailsham's Ben Warren mixing it with the leaders until the final stages. Biniam Ande from Hastings and former British under-17 cross-country champion Oliver Freeman from Eastbourne, who is better known as a European junior triathlon champion and who is just recovering from glandular fever, tucked in behind the Horsham runner as he set the pace right from the start. Warren carried most of the burden in the lead while the Hastings runner was relying on his fast finishing speed. However, it was Freeman who took off with half of the final lap to go and managed to break clear to win in 26min 06sec to Ande's 26min 21sec and the Hailsham runner's 26min 31sec for third place. Scott Harris from Hailsham had an excellent run to finish sixth in 27min 03sec, but such was the strength of the under-20 runners in the event, with the first two home in this category, that the run earned him only fourth place in that age group. It was certainly Scott's best effort over the country this season. Chris Johnson from Sussex Downs College was the fifth under-20 runner to finish, placing ninth overall in 28min 02sec. Geoff Gray from Seaford continued his good form, running into 17th position in 29min 05sec. There was another fine battle between the Phoenix runner Lewis Hards and Ashley Williams from Lewes in the under-15 4.5km race. The more compact Phoenix runner again got the better of the encounter, clocking 15min 15sec, just two second ahead of Williams. Matt Suter had a fine run to finish fifth in 16min 17sec, with Josh Burgess seventh in 16min 35sec, to give Lewes their second team victory of the afternoon. Lizzie Keep from Lewes, in her first season in the under-15 age group, placed 11th in 17min 11sec for the 4km course. Horsham's Sarah Wigmore in 15min 36sec won the race. The under-13 boys 3km race saw Lewes's' Ben Burgess having a fine run to finish third in 11min 35sec, 22 seconds down on race winner Charlie Grice (Phoenix). In the under-13 girls 3km race Melissa Ruffell from Hailsham had another good run to fill sixth place in 12min 38sec.