HYNDBURN missed a golden opportunity to consolidate their place in Northern Division 1W of the Young Athletes League when they were handed a home tie for the final fixture, but they couldn't muster the victory which would have seen them safe.

They played each of their 15 rivals once over the summer, three at a time, and by a co-incidence the opponents immediately above them in the table, Manx, Oswestry and Deeside lined up against them at Wilson's Playing Fields on Sunday afternoon.

Robbie Schofield was named the Male Track Athlete of the Match with a Grade 3 Standard 2:04.1 in the under 17s 800m, but it was to no avail and still the club could only manage third with 267 points behind Manx on 326 and Oswestry 308, although they were 57 points clear of Deeside.

With three feeder divisions each providing two promoted clubs, it means that six are relegated making consolidation just too tough after last year's promotion.

Nevertheless, Sunday was littered with good displays and 22 graded performances were logged by club members. Katie Emmett produced the surprise of the day in winning the B string 100 metres.

The under 15 clocked 13.0 seconds faster than the A winner and achieved a Grade 2 standard. Leigh Lennon set two Grade 2s on the day as she won the under 17s 300m and 800m with respective times of 42.2 seconds and 2:20.5.

Three victories in the relays boosted the points tally, but the numbers were light in some departments, with the under 13s especially overly dependent on Alicia Muligan, Abbie Thistlethwaite, Hannah Topham and Tom Dewhurst.

Also promoted 12 months ago, Blackburn Harriers are a division higher in the Northern Premier League, and they have maintained their status with ease after another terrific year They closed with second to the hosts at Preston. Final points were Preston 448, Blackburn 389, Chesterfield 383, Morpeth 228 and the result gives Blackburn a provisional sixth place out of 16 in the league.

The Harriers had many excellent performances on the day, led by under 15 Abby Edmundson who shot up the national rankings with a Grade 1 11.9 seconds in the 75m hurdles, taking half a second off her previous best and a tenth off the club record that has stood since the 1970s. It gave her the A string victory and she underlined her excellent form with a 13.6s PB in the 100m.

Up there with Edmundson was Naomi Thompson with a Grade 1 2:29.1 in the 800m to give her the A string win, and Kieran Monaghan who took the Male Field Athlete of the Match award for his A string win in the high jump with a new PB of 1.43, just two centimetres off a Grade 1. Kieran also took the A string 75m hurdles.

Afterwards, Team Manager Richard Taylor paid tribute to the under 17s who will move up to the under 20s next season having finished their time in the Young Athletes League.

"Christina Carr, Rachel Wood, Michael Carr, Peter Matthews, Curtis Pearce, Adam Hurley and Andy MacDonald have been with the squad for a number of years" said Taylor.

"Mark Pickup, Tom Melody and Kara Shuttleworth have joined more recently, but all have been great contributors to the progress that we have made and I would like to wish them well on their progression to the higher age groups."

Next year's squad will feature a number of new recruits who made encouraging debuts at Preston most of them coming along after the recent Blackburn Schools Track and Field Championships.

Pendle are set to leapfrog Hyndburn with promotion to Division 1 following a successful season in Division 2WC. Three consecutive second places behind Bury had put them on the brink, and a final day third spot yet to be confirmed will suffice.

Bury won again on their own patch, and Oldham and Royton, with their strongest turnout of the year, were ahead of Pendle for the first time.