COLCHESTER and Tendring Athletic Club's produced a spirited performance in the Southern Athletics League at Cambridge.

With many of the club's young athletes unavailable, it was down to their veteran members to step up and fill the many gaps.

They tried their hardest to do this but it was a big ask to take on clubs with such quality as Cambridge and Coleridge, Dacorum and Tring and West Suffolk.

The final points totals were very close but CATs still slipped back to fourth place by just eight points.

CATs chairman Warren Page said: "We will now have to work hard to avoid relegation in the remaining three matches but we can look forward to the return of some of our younger quality performers once they have completed their exams.

"What we lacked in quality on last Saturday was certainly made up for in team spirit, so we still have our fate in our own hands."

The breezy and overcast conditions were not really suited to great performances but many of the team rose to the challenge.

CATs women were the better points scorers, with Lauren Woodiwiss securing a notable double.

She won the 100 metres and 200m A string races, with her 100m time of 13.2 seconds a personal best (PB).

Amy Fosker was back from University to win the B string 200m and gained second in the 400m A string.

Debbie Castle had a good day in the throws, winning the discus, hammer and finishing second in the javelin.

Her sister April was second in the triple jump, long jump (5.05m PB) and B string javelin.

CATs ladies finished a good afternoon by winning both the 4x400m and 4x100m relays.

Ellisa Baggott was second on her SAL debut in the high jump with a leap of 1.45m, while Elsie Gray was second in the A string 800m.

CAT's men were boosted by the return of Tom Gifford, who finished second in the 200m.

Ollie Eves scored valuable points on his SAL debut in the B string 200m (second, 24.2s PB) and was third in the long jump A string.

Dimitri Solomonov had a good afternoon, winning the 110m hurdles in a PB time of 17.4 seconds, finishing second in the high jump and competing in the steeplechase for the first time.

William Page came second in the 400m and also won the B string 3,000m while Dave Kelway was second in the pole vault with a PB of 2.55m and Jason Eghan threw a PB of 10.49m in the shot putt.

Both of CATs' men's teams finished second in the 4x400m and 4x100m, following gutsy runs.