On Saturday the British Athletics league team were in action in their first match

The BAL team finished third by just 14 points in Division One at Gateshead on Saturday. In a close match Gateshead and Trafford came out on top. However, the result might be amended as Trafford fielded an ineligible athlete.

Sheffield's best event of a top class track programme was the 110 metres hurdles where Don Girdler (14.20) and Roger Skedd (14.60) scored maximum points.

Elsewhere on the track the team had to fight for every point. Sam Ellis, third in 1:51.7, and Chris Brown, second in the B race (1:54.00) scored good points in the 800. Sam had flown back from Oslo in the early hours of the morning where he had run 1:48.15 for 800 metres.

Jamie Williamson won the discus (47.28) and Daniel Brunt made it maximum points winning the B event (42.12). The same pairing contested the shot, this time Williamson narrowly losing with 15.62 and Brunt again winning the B event with 14.26.

The triple jump is always a good event for Sheffield. David Budd won the triple jump comfortably with 15.01 and Graeme Matthews beat all the other competitors to take the B event with 14.68.

The high jump was another maximum points event through Wani Mkandawire (2.05) and Ben Moubrey (2.00).

In the pole vault, Luke Cutts, looking a class apart, cleared five metres.

Match Score: 1 Gateshead 312; 2 Trafford 306; 3 City of Sheffield 292; 4 Border 267; 5 Harrow 258; 6 Liverpool 251.5; 7 Kent AC 245.5; 8 Thames Valley 198;