HUTTON I............129 all out

EPPING I................75 all out

(Hutton won by 54 runs)

(Shepherd Neame Essex League Division Three)

Hutton looked to get back on course in their push for promotion on Saturday, following a poor performance the previous week.

They travelled to Lower Bury Lane to play Epping and it was evident early on that the wicket was not of top quality as the Epping bowlers soon took control.

Epping's attack was spearheaded by Eccleston who ripped the early Hutton batting order to shreds, by taking six of the first seven wickets to fall as Hutton slumped.

A revival of sorts was started by Graham Spooner who made 25, before being adjudged lbw, then continued by Alan Jelley (29) and Mark Jones (25).

This saw Hutton reach a disappointing 129 all out from 46.4 overs, and Eccleston's final figures were 13.4-2-51-7, which looked to have set Epping up for victory.

In some matches, when the second innings starts bowling just a fraction wide or short, can appear to make it seem that the character of the wicket has changed dramatically. And sometimes the side batting second wins comfortably.

In the Epping innings this was not the case, although Clark and Cotton, the Hutton opening bowlers, bowled with fire and accuracy.

Bowling unchanged throughout the innings which lasted 25.2 overs, they took five wickets apiece and left Epping 54 runs short of the required total, with 16.4 overs of the final 20 still to go.

In the final Epping score of 75, only two batsmen, Bickley and Maynard, and of the 20 wickets that fell, 11 were clean bowled.

This win has cemented Hutton's second place in Division Three with Upminster still leading the way.

Upminster have 159 points from their 11 games, Hutton have 132, also from 11 games, and Harlow occupy thiird place, with 110 points from 11 matches played.

However, the Hutton players will be wary that any slip up similar to the one two weeks ago on the run-in to the end of the season may cost them the place in Division Two next year which they are striving so hard to attain.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.