BROOKWEALD 159-6

OLD SOUTHENDIAN 161-0

(OLD BOYS WON)

Unbeaten openers Peter Gray (91) and James Blackmore (54) peaked Southendian's superb all-round display at the County Ground by blitzing the Old Boys to victory off just 24 overs.

Struggling Brookweald, who had won the toss, crawled to 159-6 off their 52 overs in the face of top-quality, tight bowling from all five members of Southendian's attack.

Des Beckett reeled off six maidens in his ten-over stint, finishing with 0-6, while fellow opening paceman Chris Sorrell took 0-25 off his nine commendable overs.

Dave Evans (3-80 in 17 overs), Neil Campbell (1-27 in 12) and Dave Slaughter (1-15 in four) also tied Brookweald down.

Southendian skipper Chris Bunce said: "We bowled very well and could have kept them to around 140.

"But we gave them some runs so they would declare after getting batting points for reaching 150.

"After that, our batting was very pleasing, especially after last week's defeat."

Bunce added: "It's half-way through the season and I'm satisfied with what we've done so far.

"We're in with the top Division Two sides and it looks as if we've a good chance of going up.

"We've won two of the last three games and play at Stanford, who are well down, next Saturday, so I'm happy with the last few weeks."

The third-placed Old Boys are 12 points adrift of Leigh - but 21 points clear of Ilford, who are fourth.

Wade toasts his Westcliff winners

ORSETT 179 all out

WESTCLIFF 180-4

(WESTCLIFF WON)

Fast-rising Westcliff notched their second win in a row - after rampant batsmen Steve Green and Romesh Paul finished a job begun by excellent bowling.

Orsett's total was built around 61 from highly-rated South African all-rounder Gareth Catz.

However, Nick Cooper (6-58) and Romesh Paul (3-58), who each bowled 18 overs, led the home side's impressive show in the field as they dismissed the Essex Village Cup champions after 50.4 overs.

Opener Green (81 not out) and Paul (52) clinched Westcliff's smooth victory inside 39 overs.

Skipper Tim Wade - whose side are now joint second with Colchester - said: "Those two batsmen have been in great form all season.

"But it was a very good performance from all areas of the team.

"Finishing in the top two and getting promotion would be fantastic. We're going for it, but we wouldn't be too upset if we didn't achieve it."

Orsett, who picked up seven points, are now fifth, a place below Hadleigh.

Nick Cooper - led the Westcliff attack with 6-58 off 18 overs as his side beat Orsett

Picture: ANDY PALMER

Report slams pitch for low-score game

BENFLEET 74

EPPING 89

(BENFLEET WON)

The controversy over Benfleet's "appalling" council-run pitch peaked today when a damning umpires' report into the home side's very low-scoring defeat was revealed.

The official note, to be given to Shepherd Neame League officials, said: "The bounce was inconsistent, too many deliveries kept low and too many popped - therefore spoiling a good contest.

"The scores reflect the pitch."

Benfleet skipper Jon Wright criticised Castle Point Council over the Woodside Park track at the start of the season, then praised them last month when work was done to improve it.

Now he says: "The track was appalling. I felt so sorry for the batsmen.

"It just shows that the effort in maintaining the ground has to be kept up."

Wright was "bitterly disappointed" to lose Saturday's Division Three clash after more fiery bowling from man-of-the-match Troy Burns (5-21) skittled Epping for 89.

Spinner Chris Colton was equally-impressive, taking 3-6 in eight overs, as Benfleet seemed poised for victory.

However, after Benfleet lost their first two wickets with just seven runs on the board, their realistic victory hopes flickered to life just once.

They reached a challenging 48-4 - only to crumble again.

Just four players reached double figures - Dave Nash (14), Burns (20), Andrew Jenkins (12) and Jon Hunter (11) - as Epping's Dave Bickley claimed 5-33.

Wright said: "Epping bowled well and exploited the conditions - and, in the context of this pitch, their 15-run winning margin is quite big."

Benfleet, who picked up four points, are 22 points behind fourth-from-bottom Harold Wood. Only the lowest three sides - Benfleet (46 points), Basildon (41) and Ongar (37) - have yet to win.

Century knock to no avail

WICKFORD 251-8

LOUGHTON 253-4

(LOUGHTON WON)

Mark Goddard struck Wickford's first ton of the summer - then saw three half-centuries condemn his side to their seventh loss in nine Premier Division games.

Goddard made precisely 100 as the hosts declared on a reasonably-promising 251.

However, Nick Carlier (73 not out), Graham Watson (51) and Asif Khan (54) ultimately enabled Loughton to win in plenty of time.

The defeat, Wickford's seventh in nine clashes, left them with five points - nine behind second-bottom Woodford Wells, who picked up just three in losing to runaway leaders Saffron Walden.

Wickford's task to avoid the drop - after gaining a Premier Division spot on the final day of last season - already seems monumental.

Their 30-point total at the midway point of the season compares to 82 for third-from-bottom Shenfield. Only Wickford and Woodford Wells have yet to win.

Batsmen steady Leigh to victoryl

STANFORD-LE-HOPE 213-5

LEIGH 214-7

(LEIGH WON)

Division Two title-chasers Leigh got back on track after a true captain's innings from Simon Burch overcame a magnificent 143 not out from Stanford's Australian star Trevor Power.

Leigh looked decidedly wobbly at 45-3, but Burch (77) and Norman Puckerin (72) set up a three-wicket triumph off the last but one delivery.

Burch said: "Power was excellent, although they didn't really have any batting other than that and, once more, our bowling wasn't very impressive.

"But it was a good wicket and the way we've been batting I would have been happy chasing 220. Again, though, we didn't make it easy for ourselves."

Stanford, who had won the toss, batted for a full 52 overs, before Leigh - who lost to fellow promotion contenders Ilford the previous week - sealed their 18 points from 41.5 overs.

Leigh are second, three points behind South Woodford.

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