A TRIP to Layer Road proved the inspiration for a teenage Colchester poet to win £1,000.

Ashley McMullin, 17, was among the top prize-winners of the 2008 Christopher Tower Poetry Prize, recently announced at Christ Church College, Oxford.

The Colchester Sixth Form college student was one of seven finalists chosen from an initial entry of more than 600, and scooped second place in the competition.

The theme was Change, and Ashley's poem Journey To Hilly Country drew on his passion for watching Colchester United.

The poem recreates a trip with his father on a cold December day to support the U's against Cardiff City.

He said: "There was something very special in the air that day - I felt it as I walked to get the coach with my dad.

"I knew I had to write something about it.

"I will go to every match if I can. Football isn't about what division you're in - it's about the atmosphere on the day.

"Going to Christ Church College was quite an experience. There was a very special atmosphere in the traditional old chamber where the winners were announced. I was quite anxious, but delighted when I realised I had been placed second, knowing that I had been selected from so many entrants."

Ashley, who is currently in the first of a two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma course, wants to study English at either Oxford or Cambridge universities.