COLCHESTER Harriers had a frustrating time at the latest Southern League fixture, at Battersea Park.

They had a depleted team and several of their athletes had to cover many events.

However, there were not enough of them and despite some excellent personal results, too many events were left unsupported - much to the frustration of team managers Helen Holdsworth and Linda Garnham.

Club all-rounder Matt Rose led the challenge by covering nine events.

His results included a win in the triple jump, with personal best of 12.37 metres.

This was followed by second places in the pole vault, B string discus and 110m hurdles, with the latter seeing him pitched against multi-international Will Sharman.

In the B race, reliable Rob Smith recorded a win.

The 200m events proved the most successful of the day for the club, with Rebecca Jeggo and Charlie Dobson recording A string wins in 25.31 seconds and 22.84s respectively.

Heather Rose and Connor Oliver gained B string wins, ensuring maximum points and a clean sweep.

Rose went on to win the 100m hurdles and finish second in the A string 400m hurdles.

In addition, Jeggo gained a win in her 100m A race (12.36s), while Callum McKay and Murafo Shava gained two second places in the male events.

In the 400m, Jake Young produced a personal best of 51.07s and an overall first place.

In the women's equivalent, Helen Bloomfield ran in second, supplementing a runner-up spot in the 1,500m B string race.

The highlight of the middle-distance races were double second places for Jordan Rowe and Oscar Dawson, in the 800m, in 1m 58.63s and 2m 2.1s respectively.

The throws proved a useful source of points, with Catherine Holdsworth winning the shot in 12.02m and finishing runner-up in the discus, hammer and javelin.

These performances were backed up with wins in the shot and javelin B string events by Jade Morgan, who also had solid second place in the long and triple jumps.

On the male side, Rob Earle had a win in the hammer (50.13m) and a second place in the discus.

Rose also scored well in the discus with a second place in the B string.

In the relays, the women's team gained a battling win in the 4x400, with the men finishing in second place.

In the men's 4x100, the team made up of under-17 athletes were pipped at the post for second place by a fast-finishing Sharman.

Other contributors to the points score included Nicola Martell-Smith (hurdles and high jump).

Millie Belbin was runner-up in the B string triple jump, high jump and long jump, while Colin Ridley and Arthur Wiston competed in the 5,000m - the latter clocking a PB.

Stacey Eyers competed in the 800m.

Final score: 1 Southampton 190.5, 2 Belgrave 185, 3 Dartford 183, 4 Colchester Harriers 176.5.