BASINGSTOKE & Mid-Hants proved a force to be reckoned with in the third round of the Leisure Pursuits Hampshire Cross-Country League series at Reading.

For the men, 31-year-old Sussex champion Steve Rees-Jones made a surprise appearance, holding off his BMH clubmate Phil Tulba in damp, misty conditions to finish almost 100 metres in the clear.

Kevin Nash completed a one-two-three for Basingstoke's men and there was more joy for the club in the women's race where Amanda Proctor tightened her stranglehold on the 2002/3 event with her third win of the season.

Proctor got the better of Southampton Running Club's Stephanie Robson on the hilly, soggy course and sprinted home with 28 seconds to spare.

Once again Team Solent's Division 3 senior men - led by tenth-placed Ian Brown - turned in a potential Division 1 result and are well clear of their nearest rivals, Wessex Road Runners, going into the Christmas break.

Overton will host the fourth of the five-match series at Ashe Meadows on Saturday, January 11.

Result highlights

Senior men: 1 S Rees-Jones (Basingstoke & MH) 27.09, 2 P Tulba (Basingstoke & MH) 27.8, 3 K Nash (Basingstoke & MH) 27.54, 4 N Anderson (Aldershot) 28.20, 5 B Stopher (Aldershot) 28.35, 6 P Banks (Aldershot) 28.41, 7 M Gregory (Southampton City) 28.45, 8 S Aldridge (Reading AC) 28.48, 9 S Ablitt (Aldershot) 29.02, 10 I Brown (Team Solent) 29.07. Teams - Division 1: Aldershot, 2 Basingstoke & MH, 3 Reading AC; Division 2; 1 Chichester RC, 2 Fleet & Crookham, 3 Hardley Runners; Division 3: 1 Team Solent, 2 Wessex RR, 3 Hamworthy.

Veteran men: 1 M Gregory (Southampton City) 28.45, 2 K Donkin (Aldershot) 30.51, 3 T Ford (Overton) 31.21, 4 S Johnson (Reading AC) 31.57, 5 D Kennedy (Aldershot) 32.16, 6 T Cousins (Fleet & Crookham) 32.18. Teams - 1 Aldershot, 2 Overton, 3 Reading RR; Division 2: 1 Reading AC, 2 Portsmouth Joggers, 3 Eastleigh Runners; B Division: 1 Aldershot, 2 Basingstoke & MH, 3 Fleet & Crookham.

Junior men: 1 P Banks (Aldershot) 28.41, 2 S Ablitt (Aldershot) 29.02, 3 D Udal (Aldershot) 29.08, 4 T Davies (Team Solent) 29.24, 5 R McCarthy (Aldershot) 29.46, 6 G Russ (Aldershot) 30.05.

Under-17 men: 1 J Ellis (non-scorer) 13.56, 2 M Mashford (Aldershot) 14.04, 3 A Friend (Aldershot) 14.12, 4 T Bilham (Chichester Runners) 14.18, 5 B Harding (City of Portsmouth) 14.18, 6 A Vernon (Stubbington Green) 14.20. Teams - 1 Aldershot, 2 City of Portsmouth, 3 Basingstoke & MH.

Under-15 boys: 1 S Blake (Aldershot) 13.18, 2 A Harris (Overton) 13.45, 3 S Crawford (Aldershot) 13.56, 4 I Slade (Team Solent) 14.09, 5 J Bliss (Overton) 14.12, 6 G Smith (Aldershot) 14.15. Teams - 1 Aldershot, 2 City of Portsmouth, 3 Overton Harriers.

Under-13 boys: 1 C West (Chichester Runners) 10.07, 2 C Welch (Aldershot) 10.18, 3 J Arnold (Aldershot) 10.27, 4 C Bounds (Aldershot) 10.33, 5 M Challen (City of Portsmouth) 10.41, 6 D Price (Bournemouth) 10.50. Teams - 1 Aldershot, 2 Southampton City, 3 Basingstoke & MH.

Senior women: 1 A Proctor (Basingstoke) 15.26, 2 S Robson (Southampton Running Club) 15.54, 3 A Pritchard (Reading AC) 16.01, 4 A Power (Reading RR) 16.07, 5 S Pickett (Aldershot) 16.16, 6 L Hartney (Reading RR) 16.20, 7 H Tobin (Basingstoke) 16.22, 8 A Hutchinson (Aldershot) 16.24, 9 C Wheeler (Overton) 16.25, 10 L Tanner (Aldershot) 16.28. Teams - 1 Aldershot, 2 Basingstoke & MH, 3 Reading RR.

Veteran women: 1 A Power (Reading RR) 16.07, 2 L Hartney (Reading RR) 16.20, 3 C Wheeler (Overton) 16.25, 4 D Byrne (Alton Runners) 16.43, 5 L Whiley (Reading RR) 16.51, 6 B Edwards (Winchester & District) 17.05.

Junior women: 1 A Pritchard (Reading AC) 16.01, 2 S Pickett (Aldershot) 16.16, 3 A Hutchinson (Aldershot) 16.24, 4 A Aldridge (Reading AC) 17.32, 5 T Gill (Aldershot) 17.38, 6 E Whittaker-Axon (Aldershot) 17.56.

Under-17 women: 1 L Tanner (Aldershot) 16.28, 2 L Smith (Aldershot) 16.29, 3 R Driver (Aldershot) 16.54, 4 V Clews (Aldershot) 17.03, 5 S Mabbett (Reading AC) 17.31, 6 K Nowak (Aldershot) 17.49.

Under-15 girls: 1 H Jones (Aldershot) 10.28, 2 E Pallant (Aldershot) 10.34, 3 L Bowers (Southampton City) 10.43, 4 S Twell (Aldershot) 10.49, 5 I Lee (Aldershot) 10.52, 6 S Preston (Aldershot) 10.55. Teams - 1 Aldershot, 2 Southampton City, 3 Winchester & District.

Under-13 girls: 1 R Gough (Stubbington Green) 9.31, 2 A Salter (Aldershot) 9.31, 3 S Burgin (Aldershot) 9.34, 4 L Webb (Southampton City) 9.42, 5 A Bond (Reading AC) 9.42, 6 H Stammers (unattached) 9.54. Teams - 1 Aldershot, 2 Southampton City, 3 Isle of Wight.