Exams, injuries and illnesses conspired to leave Southampton City with just eight fit and available athletes for the Southern Men's League Division 4 West fixture at Sandown, Isle of Wight.
Even broken equipment went against them as they wound up in second place, just two points adrift of their Island hosts.
The pole vault, which is normally one of City's stronger events, was abandoned because of a broken upright, leaving the points to be shared equally among the five competing teams.
New athletes Simon Young and Chris Buckman were thrown in at the deep end, while Andy Young stepped into the role of the absent Colin French and performed well in many events which were new to him.
The throws were a prime source of City points with Dan Martin winning both the A-string hammer and shot and finishing third in the discus.
On the track, Russell Osborn continued his good form from the previous week's Hampshire Championships and, as team manager James Martin pointed out: "It reinforced the need to secure promotion this season to keep our talented athletes.
"With the promise of more athletes available for the Plymouth match next month (June 8), we will hopefully get back to winning ways."
Match result: Isle of Wight 124, Southampton City 122, Team Solent C 120, Fleet 89, Winchester & District B 65.
Southampton City performances:
100m: A 4 Chris Buckman 12.5, B 4 R Davies 13.0
200m: A 4 James Martin 24.8, B 3 Andy Young 25.1
400m: A 3 Russell Osborn 53.1, B 3 R Boyes 56.1
800m: A 1 Russell Osborn 2.06.1, B 4 Gordon Westley 2.40.0
1500m: A 1 Russell Osborn 4.21.5, B 4 R Boyes 5.21.3
5000m: A 5 Simon Young 18.45.8, B 3 Gordon Westley 19.09.6
110m hurdles: A 3 James Martin 21.6, B 2 Gordon Westley 25.3
400m hurdles: A 4 James Martin 74.9, B 1 Andy Young 67.5
3000m steeplechase: A 3 Gordon Westley 12.29.7, 1 B Simon Young 12.29.7
4x100m relay: 3 Southampton City (Buckman, Davies, J Martin, A Young) 48.7
4x400m relay: 3 Southampton City (J Martin, Osborn,A Young, Boyes) 3.43.0
High jump: A 1 R Boyes 1.80, B 2 James Martin 1.55
Long jump: A 2 James Martin 5.94, B 2 Andy Young 5.39
Triple jump: A 4 Chris Buckman 10.67, B 4 G Davies 9.24
Discus: A 3 Dan Martin 26.20, B 3 Simon Young 16.32
Hammer: A 1 Dan Martin 50.03, B 3 Simon Young 13.32
Pole vault: No competition
Shot: A 1 Dan Martin 11.50, B 1 Andy Young 9.40
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article