MORPETH Harriers were made to fight all the way for their fourth consecutive Sherman Cup victory at Temple Park, South Shields.

The Northumbrians battled toe-to-toe with Sunderland Harriers who held the lead until the final event, when the defending champions managed to turned a three-point deficit into a three-point victory. And to add to their delight Morpeth also returned home with the women's Davison Trophy.

Morpeth, who had surprisingly suffered a hat-trick of defeats in the Durham Cathedral Relays the previous weekend, were again without some of their star runners in a cumulative competition decided by the winning team-of-three scores from four age groups.

Sunderland - winners of two trophies at Durham - got off to a great start with victory in the under-13 boys' race with ten points - 21 ahead of their rivals.

And the Wearsiders extended their lead by winning the senior men's event by four points from Morpeth. But the 25-point lead was whittled down to three when Morpeth won the under-17 men's contest, providing three of the first four finishers - and in the final event Morpeth's under-15 counters were fourth, fifth and seventh, compared with Sunderland's fifth, sixth and 14th.

The highlight of the men's events was the performance of Gosforth Harrier Lewis Timmins who, at 17, became the youngest-ever winner of the Sherman Cup senior men's race.

The reigning Under-17 Northern Cross Country champion parted company with his rivals after the first of three laps, going on to beat silver-medallist Stewy Bell (Chester-le-Street) by an emphatic 25 seconds.

But Timmins, who is also the Northern Under-17 1500m track champion, will be unable to take his talents into this Saturday's Northern Cross Country Championships at Consett because an administrative slip-up left Gosforth without an entry.

Timmins said: "Initially I was disappointed about missing the Northerns but now I will concentrate on trying to do well for the North-East in the Inter Counties Championships next month."

There was a similarly emphatic victory in the senior women's race by Claremont's 20-year-old Newcastle University medical student Kate Chapman, who beat Sunderland Harrier Michelle Holt by 20 seconds.

Morpeth finished third in the senior women's team race but were the only club to finish teams in each of the four events, winning the Davison Shield from Sunderland and Gosforth.

Sherman Cup

(Temple Park, South Shields)

Senior Men (9K): 1 L Timmins (Gosforth) 29.32; 2 S Bell (Chester-le-Street) 29.57; 3 D Wardle (London Irish, guest) 30.17; 4 M Brown (Morpeth) 30.21; 5 M Hood (Sunderland) 30.38. Teams: 1 Sunderland 20; 2 Morpeth 24; 3 Chester-le-Street 44.

Under-17 Men (5K): 1 J Young (Morp) 18.32; 2 R Floyd (Morp) 18.43; 3 J Martin (Sund) 18.48; 4 R Balmbra (Morp) 19.17; 5 T Carter (Wallsend) 19.17. Teams: 1 Morpeth 7; 2 Sunderland 29; 3 Tynedale 30.

Under-15 Boys (3K): 1 S Potter (North Shields Poly) 11.17; 2 C Parker (Gos) 11.26; 3 M Williams (Tyne) 11.30; 4 M Cochrane (Morp) 11.32; 5 M Foggin (Morp) 11.32. Teams: 1 Morpeth 19; 2 Sunderland 25; 3 Tynedale 28.

Under-13 Boys (3K): 1 T Venus (Tyne) 11.34; 2 N Reed (Sund) 11.36; 3 L Wintrip (Sund) 12.01; 4 L Baister (Blyth) 12.06; 5 S Younger (Sund) 12.17. Teams: 1 Sunderland 10; 2 Morpeth 31; 3 Gateshead 40.

Overall placings: 1 Morpeth 84; 2 Sunderland 81; 3 Houghton & Peterlee (three events) 362.

Davison Shield

Senior Women (6.5K): 1 K Chapman (Claremont) 25.19; 2 M Holt (Sund) 25.39; 3 J mith (Heaton) 25.58; 4 L Walker (Walls) 26.05; 5 T Brown (Derwentside) 26.05. Teams: 1 Sunderland 31; 2 Claremont 36; 3 Morpeth 37.

Junior/Under-17 Women (5.5K): 1 N Dawson (Morp) 23.17; 2 C Gilmore (Gateshead) 24.04; 3 L Dodsworth (Gates) 24.15; 4 L Oliver (Tyne) 24.56; 5 N Miller (Sund) 25.41. Teams: 1 Morpeth 18.

Under-15 Girls (2.5K): 1 L Weightman (Morp) 12.15; 2 R Adams (Morp) 12.50; 3 E Spoor (Sund) 13.31; 4 L Smith (Gos) 13.39; 5 L Dixon (Morp) 13.46. Teams: 1 Morpeth 8; 2 Gosforth 18; 3 Houghton& Peterlee 27.

Under-13 Girls (2.5K): 1 S Bell (Gates) 12.55; 2 S Crosby (Sund) 13.08; 3 E Masson (Gos) 13.21; 4 S Goodfellow (Morp) 13.21; 5 Z Armstrong (Morp) 13.55. Teams: 1 Morpeth 17; 2 Gateshead 19; 3 Gosforth 26.

Overall placings: 1 Morpeth 80 pts; 2 Sunderland (three events) 109; 3 Gosforth (two events) 44.