Brownlee struggles on Euro Cross Country debut

From Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat, in Dublin

WORLD triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee was left scratching his head after a disappointing finish at the European Cross Country Championships in Dublin.

OFF DAY: Alistair Brownlee struggles in his European Cross Country Championships debut in Dublin (onEdition)

The 21-year-old has been in imperious form in 2009 in triathlon circles, scooping victory in all five of the ITU World Championship Series races he entered, including the grand final in the Gold Coast.

But the baby-faced Brit seemed out of his depth in Santry Park as he crossed the line in 48th place, despite a sixth place finish at McCain UK Cross Challenge in Liverpool last month.

While Brownlee has no intentions of bringing the curtain down on his triathlon career, the Bingley Harrier revealed he also plans to persevere with cross-country, and put his Irish adventure down to a bad day at the office.

"I'm not too sure what happened because I have been feeling great all week," said Brownlee. "It's a bit strange because you can often feel unwell at this time of year but in the build up to coming here I was feeling really good.

" I have always loved cross-country.  It's something that I've always done and enjoyed doing but out there today it felt like every time I moved my legs I was moving a mountain.

"But it's not going to stop me doing cross-country. After Christmas I'll be doing all the big races before I get back into winter training.

"I'll be heading off to Spain to get plenty of miles under my belt before the triathlon season starts again."

While Brownlee struggled in Dublin, fellow Brit Mitch Goose, fourth in Liverpool, came home in fifth place, helping Team GB to team silver.  Individual gold went to Noureddine Smail of France, who overcame compatriot Hassan Chahdi.

Goose, 20, was the highest placed Brit, while Ricky Stevenson was eighth and Lewis Timmins was 11th.  Goose revealed he was over the moon to produce the goods on the big stage.

"It feels great to finally perform at an event like this," said Goose. "I was so desperate to keep it going and put in a performance like this and it's a great feeling to have succeeded.

"Ricky was doing very well early on but I felt strong in the latter stages and found it a lot easier to come through the field late on.

"In Liverpool that wasn't really the case but it was different here and I had plenty in the tank."