The length of the journey did not help, but the match was made all the more taxing with the absence of a number of key members of the team.

Two were in action for Eastern England in a major schools’ competition and others were absent ill, injured or on holiday.

Just seven senior and under-17 athletes made the trip, along with eight under-15s and two under-13s taken along for experience and to bolster the squad.

There were a number of good individual results, particularly by the youngsters but West Suffolk AC will find it hard to avoid relegation in what has been a very tough league.

With only 16 clubs in the competition, at least six will go down and a good final result was the order of the day.

Sam Carson and Ellie Dewild were the enthusiastic under-13s, Sam running to second place in B string 1500 metres and also taking second in B string discus.

It was Ellie who really took the eye in her first competition at this level. She had been selected mainly for hurdles, and having only tested herself over the higher obstacles a couple of days before the match, did well to come second in B string.

She also filled in in high jump, where she excelled by beating her personal best by 16 centimetres with a jump of 1.41m. With that performance she came in as winner of the A string – a most unexpected bonus for the club. Ellie was rightly awarded the Athlete of the Match trophy for her efforts.

Rachael Arbon won the high jump B string for one of two double first results for West Suffolk.

In long jump, Montana Jackson and Emily Rogers took double first following jumps of 5.08m and 4.86m. They also teamed up for two runners-up spots in the 200m.

Hannah Castle set another new pb in discus as did Justine Anthony in taking second place in 1500m. Natasha Levy and Charlotte Benson both ran well for third places in the 100m, and Emily Cross, who is currently injured for running events, chipped in with good points in shot put and javelin.

For the seniors, Tania Spurling led the way with wins in both high jump and triple jump but points were otherwise rather hard to come by.

Evie Castle was third in hurdles and javelin and B string long jump, while veteran athlete Dawn Mason scored welcome points filling in wherever she could in the throwing events. Dawn took on hammer, discus, shot put and javelin on a busy afternoon.

The busiest athlete on the track was undoubtedly Zara McLoone who, frankly, never seemed to be off it.

She competed with varying success in races ranging from 100m up to 3000m finishing with a leg of the 4x400m relay.

Three further members of the club’s endurance group were also there showing similar commitment.

Emily Baker ran the 100m, 200m and 1500m, and the 4x400m relay. Emily Wenman took on the 800m and 400m together with both relays, and Kayleigh Samuels ran 1500m and both relays.

This was an epic effort by all these athletes, who must be commended for such enthusiasm.