AVON Valley Runners senior women are closing in on their best-ever result in the Gwent Cross County League, writes KEVIN FAHEY.

With just one of the five matches remaining, the Wiltshire club lie third overall after a brilliant team effort in the penultimate fixture at Pontypool on Saturday.

Led by newcomer Charlotte Johnston in 12th place and Bethan Francis right on her heels in 13th, the AVR squad finished third behind the powerful teams from Bristol & West AC and Westbury Harriers.

With further support from Veryan Cranston (31st), Rebecca Beck (35th) and Leah Sartain (40th), the squad matched their third place in match two at Pembrey Park and will head to Bristol for the finale on Saturday, March 2 within touching distance of creating club history.

Team manager and coach Steve Williams said: “I am very proud of the girls as they all ran excellently.

“Charlotte, who is on placement in Wiltshire so has joined us on second claim from her club in London, ran out of her skin in a very strong field for 12th.

“I was also very pleased with Bethan as she is not really a cross country runner and we won’t see her at her best until she gets back on the road.

“But her performances in the Gwent League are far out-stripping what she did last year, so she is making great progress.”

As a measure of AVR’s progress in the Gwent League, it should be recalled that when the club first made its debut in the league four years ago they finished 39th overall.

In the 2015/16 season, they improved to 23rd, and maintained that progress in the last two years to finish 13th and seventh, so if they secure third, it will be their best result in the club’s history.

The men haven’t made the same impact on the team front as they are currently 29th overall, but improving junior Max Davis made his presence known in the individual race as he finished a very creditable fifth and top U23 runner.

Williams added: “When the South West Schools’ Championships were cancelled, we decided to give Max a run-out in the Gwent as a sharpener ahead of the English National Championships on February 23,.

“That was also a terrific run by him against some very strong and experienced guys.”

The result should certainly give 17-year-old Davis a lot of confidence for his next race on Saturday week, even it was unexpected.

Davis said: “I walked the course before and it wasn’t my type of course at all being hilly and boggy, so to finish fifth was a real surprise."