Croydon Harrier’s senior teams experienced contrasting fortunes on an eventful afternoon in Hillingdon in their respective Southern League encounters on Saturday, writes Matthew Kiernan.

Continuing on from their superb home victory at Croydon Arena last month, it was the Harrier’s women who led the way storming to their second win in as many matches and can now truly be considered genuine promotion challengers.

Once again, it was Twinelle Hopeson who dominated proceedings with stunning wins in the 100m (12.4 seconds) and 400m (58.2).

The 18-year-old had been invited to the AAA championships in Birmingham but opted for the league match instead.

She was well supported by older sister and former GB junior international Joscelynn, who won the 100m B race matching her sibling in 12.4, and later won the 200m A race in 25.6.

The pair then combined with Davine Dubidad and a returning Odette Campbell to dominate the 4x100m, winning in 50.5, more than two seconds clear of their nearest rivals.

Serena Phillips also shone in the field winning both the hammer (25.58m) and the triple jump (9.97m), while team manager Anna Campbell threw a new lifetime best in the javelin (28.01m) to take victory.

The result leaves the Harriers two places outside the third division promotion berths.

Elsewhere, Croydon’s senior men fought on in the face of adversity with a dogged display in the latest chapter of their relegation battle.

With a severe lack of specialist throwers, the Harriers overall points were heavily hit in a tough match, eventually finishing fifth for the third time this season.

Despite this though, the Harriers had many reasons to remain upbeat going forward, with an array of encouraging performances.

Paul Ogun, who was fourth at last week’s U23 UK championships in the long jump, took the spoils in his event thanks to a 6.62m effort and also topped triple jump standings (13.65m).

On the track, Andre Gibbs maintained Croydon’s formidable reputation over the sprints to take the 100m A race in 11.3, while Afam Obi-Adewole provided able support in the B race winning in 11.5.

The pair then combined with Ogun and a returning Lee McLaughlin to take the 4x100m honours in 43.6 to win by a margin of 50m.

Meanwhile, there were also third place finishes for Peter Chambers (1500m, 4:15), Scott Fanner (800m, 2:07) David Symons (5000m, 16:10), Martin Rowe (800m, 2:02), and Chris King (Hammer, 28.66m), while Mark Plackett (1500m, 4:20) picked up a lifetime best.

Good outings were also found in the 3km steeplechase through Jaran Finn (11:48) and Colin Oxlade (12:26), while Steve Starvis impressed on his track debut (5000m, 17:14) and Eric Campbell filled in valiantly in the throws.

The result leaves Croydon 2.5 points adrift of second division safety ahead of their home match on the July 11.