Full warpaint was the order of the day

Scotland juniors won the Home International in East Anglia by the narrowest of margins to ensure that the Scots secured the overall Home International series for the first time in five years.

Defending champions England looked to have a strong grip on retaining the title they won last year, but a back-heavy Scotland team came in with significant late scores to claim five wins from the six Individual races.

James Hammond won his fifth straight race at the JHI, in 45.19, while Scarlett Kelly was the 2nd scorer for Scotland in W16, 5th overall in 45.51. Fraser Cheyne also got on the scoreboard for the Scots, as he was 2nd counter in M14, although both Ireland and Wales brought runners home ahead of him.

There were nine FVO athletes in all competing for Scotland this year, and James Edward (11th in 52,11) and Lucas Baikie (13h in 56,36) gained valuable event experience on their M14 debut. Eilidh Connor finished in mid field in W14, 7th of 14 finishers in 46.58.

W16 was a bit of an FVO show for the Scots, with three athletes in the field, and Rebecca Hammond (6th in 48.05) and Esme Kelly (8th in 50.46) were split by the 4th English competitor, but beat everything that Ireland and Wales had to offer, while in M18, Sam Hunt was 12th (70.17) in his final JHI.

With a narrow three point lead overnight, Scotland made the first move in the Women's relay taking the win in 65.04, and leading from gun to tape. England filled out the next three positions, but the Scotland B team, with Scarlett Kelly 4th on the opening leg (24.34) was 5th, and with the 3rd England team not being scored, this meant that Scotland retained its three point lead.

The men's relay started 10 minutes later, and it was looking good at the final changeover, as James Hammond was sent out in front, with a 21 second lead over the top English team. However, he was gunned down in the run-in, finishing 2nd (24.32) by just four seconds.

Ireland had their top team up into 4th at the change, but the Scotland B team, which had James Edward in a fine 5th (25.35) on the middle leg, got back in the latter stages for the 4th place, behind England B. The result of this was that England won the relay by three points, thus negating the Scotland lead.

It was time to get the rulebook out, and it was determined that the first eliminator in the case of a tie was the number of overall course wins, where Scotland was able to get its nose in front, due to the five wins from the first day.