BASINGSTOKE and Mid Hants Athletic Club made a promising start to the British Athletics League season on Saturday.

The Down Grange club had been expected to struggle in their opening National Division One outing at Eton, having been promoted at the end of last season.

They made the short trip to Berkshire without decathlete Ben Hazell, who missed out due to work commitments, as well as hurdler Tony Higbee and distance runner Brendan O'Connor, who went down injured during the week.

Despite these setbacks, it was a decent afternoon for Basingstoke as they secured sixth place out of the eight teams, amassing a total of 232 points.

Team manager Ian Byett said: "It was really good under the circumstances. Apparently most teams had similar problems to us, with injuries and unavailability hitting everyone hard.

"With the problems we had, I thought we would struggle in this first match. To finish ahead of Cardiff and not too far of the teams in front of us was a very good result."

As expected, Basingstoke enjoyed plenty of success in the sprints. Kieran Showler-Davis clocked 20.92sec in winning the 200m, with his brother Dean making it a double for the club by winning the B race.

Dean Showler-Davis also finished third in the 100m, while the brothers then teamed up with Marvin Gayle and Myles Richardson to come second in the 4x100m relay. Richardson had earlier finished third in the B 400m, clocking a personal-best time of 49.09sec.

Basingstoke were expected to struggle badly in the middle and long distance events, but they had a couple of notable successes, with Tom Syckelmoore finishing second in the 800m and newcomer Ryan Burling claiming fourth place in the 3,000m steeplechase.

In the field, Rafer Joseph stepped out of retirement to finish second in the B hammer, while John Dickenson and Dan Spencer claimed third places in the B pole vault and B discus respectively.

The high jump was expected to be a strong event for Basingstoke, and so it proved with Ryan Bonifas and Malachi Gair claiming fourth-place in the A and B events.

The next meeting will take place at Southampton on June 6.

Byett added: "I am encouraged by the result and how it all went in terms of performances. We will keep going and are likely to be stronger in the remaining matches."

Match Result: Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow 357pts, City of Liverpool 346, Southampton 298, Blackheath and Bromley Harriers 277.7, Kent AC 249, Basingstoke and Mid Hants 232, Cardiff 224, Herne Hill Harriers 189.