Hornchurch Athletic fell to a fifth defeat of the season against local rivals Rainham and the two sides now find themselves at opposite ends of the Hamro Foundation Essex League Division Three table.
Athletic won the toss and decided to field, with Ryan Sammons removing the dangerous Sid Patel for only 16 and Paul Humphries, Neil Hutchison and Paul Crane working their way through the home line-up.
No Rainham batsman was able to get past 25 but everyone chipped in and they made 175, a very useful score in the difficult batting conditions.
Paul Crane was pick of the Athletic attach with 3-25.
Athletic’s innings got off to a disastrous start and they were soon in deep trouble at 5-3.
There was a good recovery from Billy Robinson (40) and Dan Stone (29) as they got to 70 without further loss.
But after Robinson was out, Jon O’Neil (4-25) worked his way through the middle order and Athletic were dismissed for 133.
This week Athletic entertain Springfield.
The seconds game at Hylands was called off because of a waterlogged outfield but the thirds suffered a huge defeat at Chelmsford Spartans, a team that look very strong for Mid-Essex Division Eight.
Spartans made 323 and Athletic could only make 52 in reply. Steve Richards took six wickets for Athletic but conceded 73 runs in just six overs.
Spencer Duke made an unbeaten century for the fourths and Steve Hunt took 4-4 as they beat Rankins thirds.
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