CROFT Ambrey's Andy Salt made light work of the fact he had just flown back from Kenya to claim his first win the 2017/18 Herefordshire Cross Country League season at Monkhall Farm.

Salt attacked from the start ,with former league champions Robin Woods and Tim Davies desperately trying to stay with the relentless pace.

As the race entered the second lap, the pursuers' efforts began to fade allowing Salt to power his way to victory up the final steep hill to the finish line.

Woods recorded his third successive second place finish, with Davies a whole minute adrift of him as the field became spread out due to Salt's aggressive performance.

Maldwyn Harriers took the team honours for the second successive race, eight points ahead of Wye Valley Runners, who grouped well.

Sam Mayglothling lead them home in fifth place, closely followed by Christian Jones in sixth, with Peter Nugent and Liam Grice battling hard in 11th and 12th places respectively.

Salt's victory boosted Croft Ambrey's men's team into producing their best race of the season in third place.

He was well supported by veterans Mark Thomas in eighth, Simon Norwood 18th and Glyn Williams 28th.

Wye Valley had built a good lead in the first race of the series, but Maldwyn have since chipped away at this advantage and the two teams are now equal on 118 points with two races remaining.

Monross Trailblazers maintained their third place overall.

The female runners ran over the same challenging course and Croft Ambrey again provided the race winner.

Gemma Mallett continued to prove that she is adept at dealing with all distances and terrains.

She also led from the start, with Rhayader R.C.'s Jo Rees in close attendance during the early stages.

It was her stamina based background that gave her the strength to open up a gap as the race progressed and fatigue kicked in.

Mallett still looked fresh and relaxed as she stormed up the final stiff climb to win by 19 seconds from Rees, with Wye Valley's Claire Sims moving through the field to finish third.

Croft Ambrey and Wye Valley totally dominated the women's team competition as they filled the first six places.

Croft Ambrey consolidated their lead in the series as they registered their third successive victory, with Mallett being backed by the ever-dependable Irina Dale in fourth place and a determined run from the improving Kelly Bowen with a best ever seventh place.

Wye Valley took second place as Sims was backed by solid runs from Becki Ansfield in 10th and Juliet Moxon in 11th.

Croft Ambrey's B team finished third, thanks to good runs from Robyn Gore in 9th, team captain Sam Harper in 13th and newcomer Georgina Harrison 14th.

Croft Ambrey have now stretched their advantage over Wye Valley to 26 points with the Croft B team in third place overall.