Brentwood captain Aaron West knows local rivals Shenfield will be eager to derail their title challenge as they head into the final two weeks of the season.
West’s side welcome Ollie Ekers’ men to the Old County Ground for a derby date on Saturday as they look to continue putting the pressure on Shepherd Neame Essex League leaders Wanstead & Snaresbrook.
They currently sit just one point behind in second place with just Shenfield and the Herons to face in the last two fixtures.
“I think Shenfield against Brentwood is always one of the games we look out for. It’s a bigger rivalry than the Hutton game and I’m sure they’ll be trying to derail our title challenge,” West said.
“We’ve just got to make sure we win again to take it down to the last day of the season. A lot of the boys know each other, so I’m sure they’ll be up for it, and everyone will be looking forward to it.”
The skipper admitted they will be keeping a close eye on Wanstead’s match against Buckhurst Hill this weekend.
“If one of us drops points this weekend, I’m not 100 per cent sure, but it would be all but sewn up for the other side,” he added.
“Neither one of us can afford to lose.”
Brentwood head into the clash on the back of a comfortable 45-run victory over rivals Hutton after being put into bat first.
They managed a score of 226-3 with West (108) leading the way with support from Jack Hebron (55 not out) and Will Buttleman (36).
In reply, Hutton could only reach 199-9 after a superb bowling performance from Charlie Griffiths (5-44).
“It was a good result, obviously the weather kicked in a bit, so it made it tricky after being sent in to bat first,” West said.
“We got the job done and stayed in touch with Wanstead to keep the title challenge going.”
He added: “I feel like I’ve been batting well this year without getting the big scores, so it was nice to contribute to the side, and lead the way from the front.
“We set a really good base with the bat and Jack Hebron played a bit of an explosive innings at the end getting 55 not out off 23 balls, I think it was.
“Getting to that score we always felt confident we were going to defend, then Charlie showed his class as usual taking five wickets up top to kill the game off.”
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