Tonbridge AC got the better of a thrilling battle with arch rivals Kent AC to finish fifth out of 60 men’s teams in the English National 12-Stage Road Relay at Sutton Park, Birmingham, writes Alan Newman.

Tonbridge went ahead early on as the race unfolded but Kent were making better progress until the sides came together again right at the end.

Ben Cole (27min31sec), George Duggan (16.05), Henry Pearce (29.26), Dominic Brown (15.39), Corey De'Ath (29.03) and Tom Cox (15.45) brought Tonbridge to halfway in seventh place, with Kent already up to fourth.

Max Nicholls (28.52), Daniel Bradley (16.22), Ryan Driscoll (28.42), Alex Howard (16.32) and 2015 World Cross-Country representative Chris Olley (27.54) held seventh place and with one stage remaining Tonbridge were two seconds behind Kent AC.

The anchor leg was in the capable hands of Luca Russo, who was matched against Kent’s Mark Hall. With a massive final effort, Russo swept into fifth place (15.58) by seven seconds as Kent AC wound up sixth overall.