MISTLEY'S cricketers suffered a third straight defeat as they went down by three wickets against Witham.

In a crunch match at the foot of the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship first division table, the Swans made 289 for eight, largely thanks to a sizeable contribution from Sizwe Masondo (90).

In reply, Witham got home with three wickets to spare, with Jake Wakelin making 92, Simon Jones 89 and Forster Mutizwa 42.

Tim Scott took four wickets for 56 runs and captain Dan Goff two for 62.

Batting first, Mistley lost Graeme Butcher early on and Goff when the score was on 43.

James Scott and Masondo shared a partnership of 58 and were going well when Scott was run-out for 33.

It followed a mix-up in which Masondo did not respond to Scott’s call for a run.

Masondo went on to score 90, while Adrian Stockton (40) and Matt Bibby (27) also made useful contributions.

Tim Scott came to the wicket with the score at 246 for six and provided a dramatic final burst of runs, scoring 36 not out from just 14 balls, including four sixes.

It helped Mistley score 59 from the last six overs and reach a total of 289 for eight.

Tim Scott led the bowling with four wickets, including three of the top four batsmen - one of which involved Butcher taking a sharp catch at slip on the second attempt.

Goff took two wickets and James Scott bowled an economical six overs for 22 runs.

Wakelin and Jones proved difficult to get out, though, and their scores of 92 and 89 helped Witham just manage to pass Mistley’s total with six balls to spare in an exciting match.

Elsewhere, Bruce Leek was the star of the show as Mistley's second team won by 25 runs at Bury St Edmunds.

He took six wickets for 22 runs, including a hat-trick, to dismiss the Suffolk side for 110.

Mistley had batted first and made 135.

On Sunday, Copdock and Old Ipswichians visited Mistley in the North Essex League.

The Swans fielded a young side, with eight players aged 21 or younger, giving them an opportunity to play against a strong Copdock side that included some players who regularly represent them in the Gibbs Denley East Anglian Premier League.

Mistley batted first and while Masondo top-scored with 83, it was encouraging to see opener George Hutton score 63 and junior player Tom Young a really good 51 in Mistley’s total of 270.

The youngsters also bowled extremely well for Mistley and, until the 28th over, all the Swans' bowlers were aged 16 or under.

Oliver Fifield took three wickets for 39 runs, including both opening batsmen, and Harry Fifield bowled a very consistent spell for a young spinner, including getting the scalp of experienced cricketer Chris Swallow, who was stumped by Tom Young.

Unfortunately, Sam Webb-Snowling saw the visitors to their target with 107 not out and eight balls to spare in another close finish.

This was an opportunity to see the young future prospects for Mistley in action and they performed well in getting a competitive total and then making the opposition work hard to score their runs.