But the athletes on duty fought a fine rearguard action, successfully limiting the damage to fourth out of seven competing teams.

Their determined effort gained them another step towards safety in their fight against relegation from the first division.

Hammer thrower Robert Taylor once again showed his renowned team spirit by winning the A hammer by a wide margin with a mighty 52.93m effort before going on to score with fifth place in the B javelin, fourth in the A shot, fifth in the A discus and an incredible second in the B 400m hurdles.

Michael Walker showed his liking for the bigger obstacles by staying on well to prevail in the A 2000m steeplechase, beating Scunthorpe's S Barrill by a clear four seconds in 7 mins 15 secs. Walker had earlier finished third in the B 800m where he clocked a personal best 2 mins 10 secs to continue his steady seasonal improvement.

Chris Hughff was Wakefield's only other A string winner. Competing despite suffering a slight hamstring pull, he still proved far too good for the opposition, winning by over ten metres with his day's best throw of 52.27m. Hughff also finished third in the B 200m, clocking 25.3 secs.

Sixteen-year-old Alex Senior clocked 2 mins 03.1 secs to claim a good second place in the A 800m behind lan Whittaker of Rotherham who won in 2 mins 00.3 secs. Senior went on to add to his points contribution by finishing second in the B 400m in 54.8 secs behind J Russell of Rotherham who claimed victory in 52.4 secs.

James Wild was just beaten on count back in the A high jump having cleared 1.85m, the same height as winner M Beer of Chesterfield. Wild also finished fourth in the B hammer and sixth in the B shot to underline his commitment to the team.

J Taylor had a busy and productive day on his debut in club colours, finishing second in the A 3000m, third in the B 1500m and sixth in the B triple jump. He looks certain to be a useful addition to Wakefield's U20 squad.

Other team members were: Mark Ainsworth, Darrell Raynard, Jonathan Shearn, Richard Markey, Nick Bradley

Final match score: 1st - Rotherham 175, 2nd - Scunthorpe 173, 3rd - Grimsby 156, 4th - Wakefield 142, 5th - Chesterfield 126, 6th - City of Hull and Hull Achilles combined 100, 7th - Hull Springhead 99.