A second win in succession saw one north Essex side boost their Thurlow Nunn League fortunes and claim the performance of the day award.

It was a weekend when local sides in both the premier division and division one south saw ups and downs, with only a handful seeing positive outcomes.

One of those, though, was FC Clacton in the top flight.

The Seasiders’ league action had been restricted recently by their involvement in cup competitions, but Tom Austin’s side made a triumphant return on Friday night as they won 3-1 at Hadleigh United.

Clacton had to come from behind, though, as they conceded an opening goal with just ten minutes on the clock as Kyron Andrews fired the hosts in front.

However, Harry McDonald levelled that before half-time, before putting Clacton ahead on 57 minutes and the three points were made safe when Charlie Thompson scored a third with nine minutes remaining.

Also in the premier division, Stanway Rovers were looking to impose a first defeat on leaders Stowmarket Town, but were unable to derail the front-runners.

Stowmarket dominated the opening 45 minutes and opened a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Tom Bullard and David Cowley

Although Andrew Wood halved the deficit from the penalty spot in the 51st minute, Rovers were unable to claw back a second to level things up as the game finished with Stowmarket winning 2-1.

There was premier division joy for Brantham Athletic, though, as they won 2-0 at Walsham le Willows thanks to goals from Johnson and Abrahams.

In division one south, it proved a bad weekend for Halstead Town as a second consecutive defeat saw them knocked off the summit.

They had lost 3-0 at Harwich & Parkeston seven days earlier and although the Humbugs had Jordan Pavett on target late on, it was just a consolation as two Barkingside goals saw them snatch a 2-1 win at the Milbank Stadium.

Harwich, meanwhile, picked up where they had left off the previous weekend as they enjoyed a 2-0 home win against Benfleet to back up the result against Halstead.

This time it was two Jordan Heath goals that did it for the Shrimpers and saw them pick up the performance of the day award.

Another side picking up three points and keeping a clean sheet were Coggeshall United, who beat bottom club Fire United 3-0 with second-half strikes from Khris Oti and Mwetsi Matangi.

There were home defeats for other division one south sides, though.

Holland FC were beaten 2-0 by Lopes Tavares, who went top thanks to their victory, while Wivenhoe Town lost 2-0 to Wormley Rovers and Brightlingsea Regent Reserves lost 4-0 against Burnham Ramblers.

On Friday night, Little Oakley were left scratching their heads over how they didn’t get any reward from their trip to May & Baker.

The Acorns did take the lead early on when Luke Mayhew raced through the middle and fired home and they were on top throughout the opening first half.

However, Oakley’s lead was just the one goal at half-time and they were left to rue chances to extend their lead either side of the break as May & Baker not only equalised but went ahead and secured a 2-1 win.