Crawley Athletic Club are facing a relegation battle in British League division three.

They were without several first choice athletes for the fixture at Cardiff and finished eighth.

Manager Mark Sheridan said: "I could not believe the standard. I was hoping for a top three placing. Unfortunately, the other clubs seem to have improved and, even if we had been at full strength, we would not have finished higher than sixth.

"We now have to forget promotion and hope we can escape the drop to division four but this will not be easy."

Joel Kidger and Kevin Holland were the only Crawley winners. Kidger was in complete control to win the 1,500m in 3min.51.4sec.

Holland, who earlier finished seventh in the 800m despite ducking inside two minutes, won the B 5,000m (15min.11.02sec), only just outside his season's best. Paul Rodgers finished fourth in the A race (15min.05.28sec), well inside his previous best this season.

Although long jumper Matt Barclay was well below par in his main event, he chalked up a lifetime best 10.97sec in the 100m but he was only fifth.

Barclay also clocked a personal best in the 200m (22.2sec) for fourth.

Worthing and District Harriers made a much better fist of their penultimate match in the Southern Men's League and were second to the home team in their division one match at Chelmsford.

It was their best result of the season and could lift them out of the relegation zone but they require another good result in their final match next month to stay out of trouble.

As always, they relied heavily upon all-rounder Paul Gilding.

He had victories in the 110m hurdles, high jump, triple jump and B javelin and was second in the long jump.

His 24 points represented 20 per cent of the Worthing team total so they certainly need to keep him fit for the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, Brighton and Hove City team kept up their quest for back-to-back promotions with a fine victory over the home team in division three at Havering and this should pull them clear of their nearest rivals for the fourth qualifying place.

Team manager Richard Carter has constructed a well-balanced side and most of the Brighton and Hove times and distances were better than those of Worthing athletes, two divisions higher.

Dan Brooker continues to show excellent sprinting form and recorded a fine double. Richard Airey won the 800m and 1,500m without too much trouble.