Hornchurch slipped to a tense one-wicket defeat at Shenfield with one ball left in their Shepherd Neame Essex League Gooch division contest.

Captain Billy Gordon hit three sixes and 11 fours in his 92, as the visitors were dismissed for 248 in the 40th over.

Roy Smith (39), Jas Bassan (31) and Ronnie Saunders (27) also made starts for the 2018 treble winners, as Jack Newton (5-49) and Jack Plom (3-27) shone with the ball for Shenfield.

And the home side clinched victory in a dramatic climax, after Haris Mahmood (56), Plom (36), Alex Rickenbach (24) and Max Bear (24) led the way with the bat.

Jermaine Shillingford (2-40), Merv Westfield (2-41) and Shane Barwick (2-42) nabbed braces for beaten Hornchurch.

The seconds also suffered a loss against Ardleigh Green & Havering firsts in the Ten Doeschate group.

Kevin Shallow (42), Lee Bones (38) and Ed Smith (26) top scored as Hornchurch were dismissed for 186 in the 36th over, with Shawn Harvey (3-37) and Sam Brooks (3-38) among the wickets.

Paul Hurworth fell two runs short of a century for Green, though, and Dave Rai (28) also chipped in as they sealed a six-wicket win with 14 overs to spare.

Myles Wells (2-39) was the pick of the Hornchurch bowling.

The thirds provided some cheer with a four-wicket win over Chelmsford, who were held to 181-8.

Nauman Farooq (2-41) nabbed a brace for Hornchurch who then saw Mo Khan (70) and Ed Warren (65) combine with the bat to set up victory.

And the fifths won a friendly against Rayleigh, who were skittled for 96 by Alan Foxton (2-3), Childs (3-26) and Law (2-18).

Tony Willison’s unbeaten 45 steered Hornchurch to a seven-wicket triumph in 23 overs.