NEWHAM & ESSEX BEAGLES may be on the verge of British Athletics League glory once again this summer, but they had to settle for third place in the League Cup Final over the weekend.

Despite a valiant effort in the Jo Smith Cup, which features both men and women, held at Copthall Stadium, the Beagles' women could not quite live up to the standards set by the men.

Woodford Green with Essex Ladies won the eight-team final, with City of Manchester finishing just two points ahead of Newham in second.

For the Beagles men, it was a real field day as the field is where six of their eight victories occurred.

Leading the way was Abdul Buhari in the discus, who beat British number one Emeka Udechuka from Woodford with a stunning throw of 57.63m.

Kieran Kelly followed it up to win the shot putt, with a distance of 17.68m.

Andre Fernandez took victory in the long jump with a leap of 7.42m, while Matt Roberts managed 2.20m to comfortably win the high jump.

Chris Huff was nearly five metres clear of his nearest rival in winning the javelin with 70.75m and he was backed up by Max Eaves in the pole vault, who won with five metres.

Elsewhere in the field, Simon Brown finished third in a highly competitive hammer event with 67.69m.

Joshua Ojinkonye completed the Newham field efforts, with fourth in the triple jump.

The only individual winner on the track was Robbie Schofield who claimed the 800m in 1.51.7, while the 4x400m relay team also triumphed.

Ben Higgins, Iwan Thomas, Robbie Schofield and Andre Fernandez clocked 3.12.74 to pip Birchfield into second place by a fraction over two hundredths of a second.

The sprint relay boys were a slightly disappointing fourth, but there were some good displays on the track.

Mark Findlay was second in the 100m in 10.50, while former Olympic star Thomas came fourth in the 400m.

Frank Baddick was second in the 1,500m, while there were third places for Alex Al-Amene in the sprint hurdles and Harun Abdi in the steeplechase, while Kevin Skinner and James Ellis managed second spot in the team 3,000m.

For the girls meanwhile, it was a tough afternoon.

In the 4x400m, Susanna Banjo, Henrietta Kodilinye-Sims, Leigh Lennon and Ashleigh Williams battled home in 3.52.00 for an excellent second place, and that was matched by Rochelle Jones, Claire Spurway, Kirsty Smith and Banjo in the sprint relay.

Leigh Lennon was second in the 800m with 2.10.11, while Kodilinye-Sims managed third in the 400m in 55.89.

There were fifth place finishes for Kelly Montgomery in the sprint hurdles, Kirsty Smith in the long jump and Melissa Stevens in the pole vault, but it was never enough to haul Newham into the top spot.