LEIGH-ON-SEA suffered back-to-back losses after they fell to a 97-run defeat to Orsett.

Dean Waller’s men dropped important points against the Thurrock side, having lost unexpectedly to Horndon-on-the-Hill last week.

Orsett were put into bat first by Leigh but that move saw Orsett stamp their authority on the match – scoring 229. Patrick Groves claimed 3-35.

Leigh came into bat but failed to ever truly test Orsett, falling eventually for 132, with Rob Catchpole the only man to make a stand at the crease (45).

Waller said his side needed to take responsibility for their poor batting performance.

“Too many of the boys are not producing,” he said. “Rob has been batting well and I have hit a few decent scores, but we need to make sure we do this every week.

“We have just come off the back of four straight wins and mustn’t get stuck in a rut. We travel to Hornchurch next week and we know how hard that will be but it is also the perfect chance to hit back.”

Meanwhile, Horndon made it back-to-back wins to edge themselves closer to safety in division two.

The Thurrock side were languishing at the bottom of the league a fortnight ago, but after two overs wins in as many weeks, they are looking up the table at rivals Billericay and Leigh-on-Sea.

Horndon won by an emphatic 128 runs against West Essex to win their first away game of the season, having been put into bat first on a slow surface.

Horndon were one run away from making 50 for no loss when the first wicket fell, Connor Hammond the man to go (23).

The other batsmen produced a consistent showing, from one through to 11, with Mike Canavon (43), Usman Jan (47) and Mustansar Meraj (35) impressing with the bat, before Horndon ended on 250 from 49 overs.

Their opponents came into bat but never looked like troubling their opponents. Only two of their batsmen made it into double figures, with West Essex tumbling to 122, with the aid of 26 extras.

Jack Marson was the leading wicket taker (3-63) but Connor Price (2-19), Mustansar Meraj (2-9) and Usman Jan (2-14) also landed impressive figures.

The win takes Horndon on to 100 points, leaving Westcliff in dire straights at the bottom of the division.

Westcliff batted first against Gidea Park & Romford, having lost the toss, and got off to a poor start having stumbled to 13-3, losing Lewis Groves, Bob Curtis and Peter Barnes cheaply.

Gareth Bull was the top scorer for the bottom side, although he could only make 20. The run-rate was slow for the visitors, and off their 29 overs, Westcliff only made 87 runs.

The home side came into bat and easily reached the target set by Westcliff, losing two batsmen as they reached 90 in less than 20 overs.

Westcliff now find themselves 53 points adrift of second-bottom Horndon-on-the-Hill.

Billericay are another side struggling for form.

Stewart Rutland said his side were close to putting a run of results together last week but he could only watch on as they fell to a 44-run defeat against the unstoppable Hornchurch, who sit pretty at the top of the division.

Hornchurch batted first and rallied to 253-8 from their 50 overs. That was an impressive score on a damp pitch and Billericay knew they would have to be at their best to reach the target.

For a while, it looked reachable but when the top-scoring Paul Walter (89 off 65 balls) fell Billericay were always going to struggle.