away from Steve Sterritt with his vicoty in Sunday's mountain bike race at Great Head Park.

In the absence of points leader Sterritt, Matcham and Brian Steinhoff had battled back and forth for the first six laps of the race, each taking turns at the front before Steinhoff managed to open a slight gap.

No sooner had he done so, than his front tyre started to deflate and Matcham was able to slip by him with about a lap to go and take victory in a time of 36:33.

Paul Livingstone, who had never been more than 30 seconds down on the leaders was also able to take advantage of Steinhoff's misfortune and grab a valuable second place, putting him in a close battle with Steinhoff for third overall in the points series.

Steinhoff was able to grab a replacement bike to finish third in 38:03. Duncan Simons, meanwhile, returned to action after a six-week lay-off due to injury and finished a comfortable fourth, just edging out Patrick Churchill by 11 seconds.

Paulo Madeiros continued his winning ways in the veterans category with another comfortable win, completing his eight laps fo the short course in just 32:57. Ian Fox had a good race, holding off both Graham Smith and Martin Bolton to take second in 36:20.

Chris Conway and Nick Taylor continued their close rivalry in the 15-16 age group, where only two minutes separated the top four riders. Conway led from the start to finish first, but his time of 30:17 was just 13 seconds better than Taylor's at the end.

John Neil, who was third in 31:25, and John Bertrand, fourth in 32:13, continued their own personal battle for third place in the series standings.

James Adams continued his good late season form with another close win over Adam Petty and Geoffrey Smith in the junior 13-14 category. Adams finished in 32:59, Petty in 34:19 and Smith in 35:03. Coyatito Smith was a bit off the pace to finish fourth in 39:39.

Tim Fox all but assured himself of the points title in the 10 and under group with another victory over Marc Smith, who finished second, and third placed Ricky Sousa Jnr. Fox's time of 25:14 for five laps was well ahead of Smith's 29:22 and Sousa's 32:20.

Aaron Fenn, the sole competitor in the junior 11-12 category, took victory in a good time of 28:51.