This season's new-look Power Bar Road Running and Cross Country League, spread over five encounters, was decided last Sunday along the Mosta route.

The new winners of the Challenge Cup are Mellieħa AC whose last success, three years ago, had coincided with the club's 15th anniversary.

Boasting some of the finest road athletes on the island, Mellieħa notched no fewer than four firsts, one of them a tie, conceding the top spot only during the first cross-country race in November when nearest rivals Żurrieq Wolves momentarily gained the lead after tying for first place at Buġibba during the opening race.

Although all members of the Mellieħa team contributed to this success, their best individual runner this year was Charles Cilia.

He finished first in the second cross-country race and twice second in Qawra and Mosta.

The anticipated challenge from St Patrick's failed to materialise and the champions of the last two years had to be content - by no means a minor feat - with winning the individual honours.

Both Jonathan Balzan and Giselle Camilleri were unstoppable, each outright winners after winning the races they took part in.

In fact, the St Patrick's ladies would have easily claimed the team league had it been constituted but a dearth of valid athletes in other teams meant that this competition had to be scratched.

On the plus side, no fewer than five male athletes from different clubs occupied the first five slots, Brian Magri (Pembroke), Gerald Grech (Libertas), Joseph Saliba (Żurrieq) and Richard Chetcuti (Mellieħa) finishing behind Balzan in that order.

For the women, Pembroke's Lisa Marie Bezzina and Joelle Cortis (St Patrick's) were second and third overall respectively.