Written by Alex Seftel
NAL Premiership Round 3 – Birmingham
Timetable and results on OpenTrack
Harrow athlete Miguel Perera dropped a bit of a bombshell at the start of our conversation looking ahead to the final National Athletics League Premiership match of the season in Birmingham.
“It’s going to be my last race ever, probably, in athletics,” said the sprint hurdler.
“I’m glad it’s going to be an opportunity to help the team win it’s first ever British title.”
To some, that last part might seem like another bombshell, but it is true.
The club was founded in 1921 with ties to Harrow County Grammar School, where athletes all originally attended back in the day.
They are yet to win the league’s top division since the competition’s initial inception in 1969.
But, a brilliant effort to win the first match of the season at Eton in June has put them level on league points with Thames Valley Harriers, despite narrow defeat to the reigning champions in Woodford in July.
“We shook the boat quite a bit in the first match,” says Perera, who represented Great Britain at the 2022 European Championships.
“I think this is the first time, probably in a long time, that TVH are really quite worried!”
Thames Valley are looking for a fourth title in a row, having been crowned champions every year since the NAL was reformed for the 2021 season with men and women competing together.
“TVH, as the history shows, have always come out strong and always put a really strong team in the finals,” Perera admits.
“We are all going to have to be on our A game to beat them, but surely they are going to do the same.”
‘We are now composed at NAL level’
The league standings see TVH ahead of Harrow only by 17 match points, the rough equivalent of goal difference in football terms.
It is pretty much a straight shoot-out between the top two, whoever gets a better overall result is very likely to win the league.
That is because Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow are more than 300 points adrift in third.
“It’s not a case of us getting by because [TVH] are underperforming, it’s the case that we are now a team that is composed at that level,” Perera insists.
“We have sort of turned the tables. They are going to have to bring their A game.”
| Position | Club | League Points | Match Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thames Valley Harriers | 23 | 1856 |
| 2 | Harrow AC | 22 | 1783.5 |
| 3 | Glasgow Jaguars | 12.5 | 1290.5 |
| 4 | Woodford Green with Essex Ladies | 12 | 1290.5 |
| 5 | Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow | 10.5 | 1282.5 |
| 6 | Birchfield Harriers | 10 | 1163.5 |
| 7 | Sale Harriers | 9 | 1209 |
| 8 | Blackheath & Bromley AC | 9 | 1198 |
In response, TVH believe the team they are putting out this weekend could be one of their strongest ever for a match.
Team manager Manuel da Silva feels confident that they can get over the line against Harrow, “especially given our brilliant team spirit,” he says.
They are again set to name top field athletes including Jade Lally and Amelia Campbell, but Harrow may fancy themselves in the sprint events in particular, where they tend to have an advantage.
Another interesting piece of the narrative is that host side Birchfield Harriers are bottom of the table and must put out a strong team to win big points in order to avoid relegation to the Championship.
Could that make any difference to the title race?
Time will tell on Saturday.
