Nopesport

On a sun blessed moor high above Stirling, Britains top juniors donned their national kit to fight it out in the first of this years Home Internationals.

Looking at the overnight scores it seems all has gone as usual, with England leading Scotland with Wales just ahead of Ireland. However that doesn't tell the full story, like the Scottish girls beating their English counterparts, while in the mens the Irish juniors actually had an equal score to the Scots.

Both 14 classes were significantly under-planned, with winning times well under 20 minutes. In W14 the Scottish and Welsh girls combined to shut the English girls out of the top 5 positions. Jo Shephard pipped Delyth Darlington for the win. In M14 however Duncan Birtwhistle and Jonathan Malley took the top spots to restore some English pride.

Hazel Wright of Scotland continued her strong season by adding the JHI title to her resume, but England packed in a top 3 sweep on M16 to even things out.

On W18 Catherine Taylor ran her team mate Anne Edwards close, with just 6 seconds between them after 36 mins of racing. There was no tight finish on M18 though, where Welsh Superstar Rhodri Buffet beat his English rivals by over 4 minutes.

So going into Sunday's relays England hold a commanding 17 point lead over Scotland, which basically translafes to Scotland needing a 1-2 in both relays to threaten the English. Wales have a narrower lead over the Irish, but with the strength the Irish boys showed today, will that be enough?

Full results and RouteGadget