Harrow Lodge Park outfit suffered just their second defeat in the league campaign, but remain second in the standings

Hornchurch captain Roy Smith admitted his side did not play well enough as they lost by 10 wickets at home to Essex League Premier Division rivals Brentwood.

The Harrow Lodge Park outfit lost the toss and were made to bat first, but were all out for 191 with opener Jamie Sorrell (40) top scoring.

It was never likely to be enough for Smith’s men and the visitors reached 154-0 inside 27 overs by the time rain arrived, which ensured victory on the Duckworth/Lewis method.

Smith’s men suffered just their second defeat of the season and he said: “The toss was quite important. We had a lot of rain last week and had no time to get the covers off.

“Every night we tried it had been raining so it was tricky conditions for whoever was going to bat first and unfortunately we got put in and just couldn’t get any partnerships going.

“Second innings the wicket had dried out, but even though the toss was important – it was not the best we have played.”

Paul Murray and Billy Gordon were out cheaply, but Paul Walter scored 28 off 27 balls, after taking three wickets for Essex in their T20 win over Kent the night before.

After Sorrell fell 10 runs short of his half-century, Smith and Michael Bones followed soon after to leave Hornchurch struggling on 85-6.

But Rashidi Boucher (36), Tom Moore (25) and Chamikara Mudalige (27) dug in to try and get their team up to a respectable tally and Marc Whitlock added 16 as the hosts batted into the 50th over.

Smith added: “A few guys got in and couldn’t kick on, but ‘Chami’ and Tom batted well at the end to get us up to a score, along with Whitlock.

“Rashidi batted nicely and very responsibly, we could have done with him going on to get a big score. When he tried to accelerate the innings, like everybody else, he got out, which was a shame and our real last hope.”

“It was a shame to see Jamie get out, he has been in good form for us all year and given us plenty of good starts. Unfortunately he couldn’t carry on and it happened to everyone, but we move on now and look ahead.”

Hornchurch stay second and just 16 points behind Wanstead after they lost at Colchester and Chelmsford’s clash at Buckhurst Hill was abandoned due to a wet outfield.