ATHLETICS: VETERAN Darren Scott has a national record in his sights this Saturday after striking silver at last weekend's Birmingham Games.

In his final 200m outing of the indoor season, the Weston Point sprinter ran 21.89 for second place at the Birmingham Games.

After winning his heat and semi at the National Indoor Arena, the 34-year-old pushed Welsh indoor champion Fabian Collymore all the way. Collymore clocked 21.74 to edge the final.

'There was only about a metre in it,' said Trafford AC's Darren, who bettered his previous best at the event - a mid-1990s bronze medal behind Runcorn training partner Allyn Condon's silver and Doug Turner's gold.

Earlier this month, Darren won the 200m North of England title for the first time at Sheffield. He went on to reach the semi-finals of the Norwich Union trials and AAA Championships on a swift return to the National Institute of Sport Stadium.

And Darren will be a man on a mission when he treads the boards at the same venue for this weekend's Sheffield Open.

His target is the Scottish national record over 300m, which is seldom run indoors. The existing mark of 35.03 was set 11 years ago by Greg McMillan in Glasgow.

'I have never run an indoor time over 300m, so this is a first,' said Darren. 'I've been running high 21s at 200m and will look to go through in the mid-22s and hold it together in the hope of going under 35 seconds. I am confident I can do it.' In the Cheshire Cross-Country League, over 7.2k at Stockport's Woodbank Park on Sunday, Dave Norman of Helsby Running Club was 11th in 26:52 and team-mate Andy Smith 52nd, 34:43.