ROBERT Tobin finished second behind Great Britain team-mate Conrad Williams in his first race of the season.

Running for Basingstoke and Mid Hants’ British Athletics League (BAL) team in their opening national division one fixture of the season at Cardiff, Tobin produced a solid performance as he continued his comeback from injury.

There was quite a buzz around the 400m as it involved both Tobin and Williams. The Basingstoke man led going into the final straight but was unable to hold on, Williams winning in a new personal best time of 45.76sec, with Tobin second in 46.25sec.

Ian Byett, the Basingstoke team manager, said: “Rob was keen to run because he is starting the season late and having him come up against his friend and rival Conrad Williams really added to the event.

“Rob pushed around the top bend but he could not hold on, which is hopefully just down to a lack of racing this season.”

Overall, the day was something of a disappointment for the Down Grange club, who finished seventh out of eight teams.

Missing multi-eventers Ben Hazell, Sam Sleap and Dean Showler-Davis, who were all in action at the English Combined Events Championships, they struggled in the field events, failing to secure a single top three finish.

However, they had more success on the track, with Kieran Showler-Davis completing the 100m and 200m double and Andy Blow winning the 400m hurdles and coming third in the 110m hurdles.

Their 4x400m team claimed second place, while Liam McGarrigle and Richard Fox picked up valuable third place finishes in the B string 800m and 110m hurdles respectively.

Byett said: “Overall I was disappointed. I knew we were up against it without out multi-eventers but thought we would be able to overcome it.

“We got 155 points on the track and just 63 in the field, which is a big disparity, but when we are back to full strength, I am confident that we will improve and climb the table.”