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Forth Valley Orienteers dream of a third successive British Club Championship came up just short at the Compass Sport Cup finals when they finished runners-up by 37 points to Bristol OK.
A strong team made the 1000-mile round trip to Devon and there were individual race wins for Graham Gristwood (Elite Men — 60.15), Anastastia Trubkina (Elite Women —56.14), Martin Dean (UltraVet Men 38.07) and Peter Molloy (Junior Men — 33.44) coupled with a further five podium finishes across the 11-race series.
However Bristol’s strong showing in the Ultravet (65+) class proved decisive, scoring 2361 points to Forth Valley’s 2328.
Club president Trevor Hoey said: “Getting 47 people to the other end of the country was a great effort, and we came close to defending our title.
“There were some outstanding individual efforts, and some people stepped up who might not have expected to, which is a feature of this competition that rewards teams for balance across courses, and rewards individuals for every place that they can gain.”
FVO hosts the Scottish qualifier for the 2018 Compass Sport Cup at Beecraigs in Linlithgow in March.