Joel Kidger turned on the style to help Crawley AC clinch promotion back to division three of the British Athletics League at Swindon on Saturday.

Kidger stormed to victory in the 1,500m in 3min.49sec and then ran a 47.7sec last leg to snatch second place in the 4x400m relay to put Crawley 20 points ahead of Herne Hill Harriers going into the final event.

However, they were cruelly denied their first match win of the season when Herne Hill took maximum points in the triple jump to sneak victory by two points.

But second place was good enough to secure the runners-up spot in division four and ensured Crawley bounce straight back after relegation last season.

Team manager Mark Sheridan said: "It would have been nice to finish the season with a win but our goal this season was to get promoted so we can't be too upset.

"The fact we have pushed Herne Hill so close in the last two matches proves we are worthy of going up to division three and we will be looking forward to next year. Our team is stronger than the one relegated last year so I think we will stand a good chance of staying up."

Kidger's performance in the 1,500m stole the show as he came home ahead of team-mate Gavin Thompson who was second in 3min.57sec. Thompson had just 30 minutes to recover before coming second in the 5,000m in 14min.57sec.

Matt Barclay won a four-way photo finish in the 100m with a time of 11.00sec, with Crawley's new Polish signing Radek Mojask just behind in 11.1sec. Mojask gained revenge in the 200m, though, as he came second in 22.2sec with Barclay third in 22.3sec.

Team captain Chris Minn played his part with third place in the 400m hurdles in 57.2sec while Josh Lamb was second in the discus with a throw of 47.50m and Sheridan picked up third in the hammer with 43.67m.

Worthing and District Harriers scored their highest points total of the season but it was not enough to lift them off the bottom of the Southern Men's League division one table.

Craig Baker won the high jump with a clearance of 1.90m and claimed second place in both the 110m hurdles (16.7sec) and triple jump (12.11m) as Worthing came fourth in their home fixture.

It means they remain rooted to the bottom of the table and are almost sure to be relegated.

Team manager Paul Collison said: "It was a much better performance but it looks like we have left it too late.

"We would have to win our last match to stand any chance of avoiding the drop and I can't see that happening unfortunately."

Brighton and Hove AC's hopes of replacing Worthing in division one took a massive blow as they came last in their match at Hastings to slip out of the promotion places in division two.

Brighton started the match second in the table but tumbled to seventh and now need to pick themselves up for the final match of the season in two weeks time.

Team manager Richard Carter said: "We have put a bit of pressure on ourselves for the last match but we will have a strong team out and if we win then we should still go up."

Brighton's Nigel Gates won the 5,000m in 15min.53.5sec and Matt Bristow the 1,500m in 4min.04.0sec, but it was Hastings' former Romania international Dorel Greta who lit up the match with club records in the javelin and shot putt as the hosts came second.

Greta added almost 10m to the previous best in the javelin with a throw of 58.44m and then completed an impressive double with 13.53m in the shot.

Team manager Mark Burgess said: "Dorel joined the club two years ago but it is the first time we have managed to get him to compete because of work commitments.

"He travelled all the way from Manchester especially but it was worth it."

Chichester Runners won their final match of the season at Hastings to finish fourth in division three south while the hosts' B team avoided relegation by coming third.

Brian Slaughter won a staggering six events at Battersea Park as Eastbourne Rovers completed a clean sweep of wins in division four south to clinch the title.

Slaughter triumphed in the high jump (1.50m), hammer (28.71m), javelin (39.66m), shot putt (11.46m), 110m hurdles (19.7sec) and discus (31.75m) to round off a remarkable season for the club.

Team manager Graham Hogg said: "It has been quite a turnaround after the way we struggled last season but success breeds success so hopefully we can carry on doing well in division three next year."

In the other match in division four south, hosts Worthing B were second just ahead of Haywards Heath.