Blackburn Harriers made the most of home advantage with their best result of the season in the Young Athletes League.

At a sunny Witton Park they finished second to a very powerful Gateshead squad, but needed their highest points tally of the summer (385) to fend off a challenge from Southport Waterloo, while Macclesfield were fourth.

Star man was Luke Evans, who set a new club record 22.5 seconds in the under 17s 200 metres, which was a Grade 1 standard.

Evans is one of the brightest prospects the club has unearthed in the sprints for many years and it took an Athlete-of-the-Match display by Gateshead's Matthew Davidson to deprive him of a win by a tenth of a second. A similar scenario occurred in the 100m where both men set Grade 2s.

Becky McElroy was the second Harrier to set a club record with 18.99m in the under 17s hammer, but again that was good only for second place.

Nevertheless, she returned an excellent points haul, with victory in the shot with a Grade 2 8.98m, and second in the discus, where 24.28m earned her a Grade 3 rating.

Blackburn competes at a high standard in the Northern Premier League and Chris Matthews and Hannah Johnson illustrated the point.

Matthews in the under 15 boys' 800m, and Johnson, in the under 13 girls 70m hurdles, each set Grade 2 standards, yet had to settle for the runners up spot.

There were nine A' string victories to boast about though, with five coming from the under 17 girls - McElroy, Rachel Searson (3000m), Holly Bleasdale (80m hurdles), Abby Edmundson (300m hurdles) and Carmen Peter-Thomas (triple jump).

Lucy Chadwick's stand-out performance in the shot won her the Female Field Athlete-of-the-Match award for Pendle in their Northern Division 1W match at Wrexham.

The under 13 putted 8.45 metres, a Grade 1 performance, but couldn't prevent the club from sliding to their third successive last position, with their lowest score of the summer, 111 points.

It was their longest journey though, and their lack of numbers was their downfall. Under 17s Daniel Evans and Garth Beckwith won the A and B 200m and 1500m races and the pair were second A and first B in the long jump.

Evans clocked 4:26.9 in the 1500m for a Grade 4 standard, while James Blackburn set Grade 4 performances in the under 15s 400m and pole vault.

Emma Thompson, Rachel Preston and Holly Broughton also bettered the Grade 4 standard in their respective 1500m, 300m and long jump contests.

Ribble Valley AC showed that their previous win in Northern Division 2EC was no flash in the pan, repeating the dose at Thornes Park in Wakfield.

Host club Halifax were understandably out in force, and the result was very tight as both clubs exceeded 450 points.

Both of the Track Athlete-of-the-Match awards went to Ribble Valley thanks to Leigh Lennon and Ian Yates.

Lennon set Grade 1 standards in the 800m and 300m in 2:16.5 and 41.8 seconds, winning the 800m by 25 seconds. Fellow under 17 Yates returned a sub 57 second 400m to set a Grade 2 time.

l Robbie Schofield, the Track Athlete-of-the-Match in Ribble Valley's opening fixture of the summer, has climbed to fourth in the National Rankings list in the under 17s 800m.

Competing in the British Milers' Club Gold Standard Race Night at Stretford, the 16-year-old clocked 1:54.87.

It takes his improvement this year to eight seconds.

Peter Matthews, of Blackburn Harriers, who is 17, was timed at 1:59.21 in the same race as Ribble Valley's Leigh Lennon, who won the women's 800m race in 2:16.51.