Nestl Rowntree Athletics Club's youngsters preserved their Young Athletes League Northern Premier Division status in fine style.

They won their last home match at Huntington Stadium against Southport Waterloo, Middlesbrough and Wakefield Harriers to avoid relegation.

The York team had to finish second and beat Wakefield to avoid the drop, but despite the absence of star 400m runner Richard Buck, who was on English Schools duty, they won the fixture to finish in mid-table.

That marked a fine recovery by Nestl Rowntree who were bottom of the 16-strong league after three of the five matches in the league programme.

With four teams to go down, their prospects did not look good but they were able to field a stronger team in the fourth fixture and won the match, beating Hallamshire, Blackpool and Stockport.

Updated: 09:43 Wednesday, July 23, 2003