DEFENDING champions Sunderland came a cropper in the opening North-East Harrier League fixture at Cramlington, finishing fifth.

The Wearsiders won the individual race in the 9.6K handicap when former North-East cross country champion Mark Hood took full advantage of a five-minute start with the slow pack to win in 34 mins 26 secs, 50 seconds ahead of Wallsend’s Tony Carter.

But Sunderland, who won the coveted Sisterson Trophy for a tenth time in 11 years last season, were down to the bare bones in the six-to-count team championship.

They fielded only nine runners and, after Hood’s great start, faded to a disappointing fifth place with 192 points.

Gateshead Harriers were the strongest team with 101 points. Six of their 15 runners were in the first 31, leaving them 45 points clear of South Shields, with Morpeth in third place on 169.

Morpeth provided the two fastest runners from the fast pack – Matt Nicholson, who finished ninth in 32 mins 48 secs, and Nick Swinburn four seconds behind him.

Former Elswick Harrier Ryan McLeod, son of Olympic 10,000m silver-medallist Mike McLeod and now competing for Tipton while at Loughborough University, clocked the fastest time of 31 mins 46 secs running as a guest from the fast pack and finishing seventh overall.

In the women’s race Stacy Rodgers led defending team champions Heaton to victory, taking a four-minute start with the slow pack to win in 26 mins 56 secs, the third fastest time of the race. The fastest were Morpeth’s Morag Stead (25.42) and Danielle Hodkinson, Wallsend (26.07).

Men: 1 M Hood (Sunderland, Slow Pack +5 mins) 34.24; 2 T Carter (Wallsend, SP) 35.16; 3 H Coates (Walls, SP) 35.53. Division One team results: 1 Gateshead 101 pts; 2 South Shields 146; 3 Morpeth 169; 4 Wallsend 173; 5 Sunderland 192; 6 Heaton 199; 7 Low Fell 205; 8 Elswick 246; 9 North Shields Poly 266. Fastest times: 1 R McLeod (Tipton, guest) 31.46; 2 M Nicholson (Morp) 32.48; 3 N Swinburn (Morp) 32.54.

Women: 1 S Rodgers (Heaton, Slow Pack +4 mins) 26.56; 2 O Tindale (Durham City, SP) 27.15; 3 K Robertson (Tynedale, SP) 27.56. Fastest times: 1 M Stead (Morp) 25.42; 2 D Hodgkinson (Wallsend) 26.07; 3 S Rodgers 26.56. Teams: 1 Heaton 24 pts; 2 Alnwick 41; 3 Elvet 62; 5 Gateshead 81.

■ Chester-le-Street’s Scottish cross country champion Freya Murray finished second on her ten-mile road race debut in the Great South Run in Portsmouth yesterday.

She clocked 52 mins 27 secs, 24 seconds behind Kenya’s Commonwealth Games 10,000m champion Grace Momanyi.

Kenya’s world cross country champion Joseph Ebuya won the men’s race in a course record 45 mins 16 secs.

■ Chester-le-Street's Alyson Dixon, preparing for her second marathon in New York next month, took four minutes off her personal-best time when she finished 11th in 57mins 40 secs. Clubmates Angela Hibbs was 16th in a pb 59.07 and newly-wed Tracy Millmore was 18th in 59.34.