IT was a weekend of disappointment for local sides in Division Two of the Shepherd Neame Cricket League, with defeats for Old Southendian & Southchurch, Leigh-on-Sea and Wickford.

The Old Boys went down to Horndon-on-the-Hill by just 24 runs as they fell short in their run chase, with Jeff West’s 105 doing the damage.

Things were looking bleak for Horndon after their first five batsmen went for nought, two, three, nought and one but in came West to steady the innings.

However, it was a one-man show for Horndon, with Scott Plom the second highest scorer with 16 runs on the board as Horndon reached 168.

And captain Aaron Lucas admitted he was frustrated, and says his team would have won had it not been for a dropped catch.

“We won the toss and it was overcast so we fielded and it was the right decision on that basis,” he said. “Their skipper threw the bat at it and he pretty much had to do that. If we had got him we would have won.

“We had them at 115-9 and I dropped him and they went on to get 50 more so it could have been very different.

“The outfield was very long and it should have been cut and we should have won and 168 was a good score on that pitch.

“The batting wasn’t great from us and we had a solid eighth wicket stand but it was too late by then.”

David Johnson (2-38), Matt Austin (2-15), Adam Rendall (2-42), Sam Hodgson (2-32) and Michael Bunce (1-39) did the damage with the ball for Old Southendian.

The hosts run chase made a rocky start, with Johnson (25) and Ross Worsfeld (41) giving the Old Boys a chance but not enough of the order were up to the challenge.

And despite a valiant 32 from Austin, it wasn’t enough.

Jack Marson (3-22), Connor Price (2-23), West (2-23), Plom (2-33) and Ryan Madder (1-22) were the Horndon bowlers.

Leigh were beaten by Oakfield Parkonians by 57 runs, as some steady knocks from the hosts put paid to Leigh’s chances of back-to-back wins.

Dean Waller put Oakfield in to bat first and the home side made a good start, with Jibran Azam (74) helping himself to eight fours and four sixes.

The middle order struggled but the tail wagged, with Eshun Kalley (48), Dave Rai (28) and Baldeep Mann (35 not out) helping Oakfield to 262-8 in 50 overs.

Daniel Cocking (3-29) and Matthew Curtis (3-53) impressed with the ball as Leigh set about repairing the damage.

Iain McDonald made 41 and Dean Waller 43 but most of the other batsmen failed to kick on, leaving Leigh short of their target as they closed on 205.

Wickford now prop up the standings after leaders Belhus ran out eight-wicket winners at the Patmore Memorial Sports Ground.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat and things didn’t look too bad at 56-2, with Gareth Wright making 29.

But of the rest of the order, only Dean Etchells (14) made it into double figures as Wickford collapsed to 87 all out in 35.3 overs.

Belhus’ Daniel Dreher took outstanding figures of 5-28 in 10 overs, and the leaders lost just two men in their replay. Two late wickets fell but Joe Joyce’s 51 not out proved enough.

David Cole closed on 2-15 for Wickford.

The weekend’s results mean Leigh, Old Southendian and Wickford are the bottom three sides in the standings.