By SAM GOODY

Southend & EMT’s struggles continued with an 86 run defeat against Brentwood.

And Southend skipper Tom Phillippe was again left feeling frustrated at the close of play.

“Saturday was another disappointing outing,” said Phillippe.

“We lost the toss and were told to field on a very good wicket and lightning fast outfield.

“To restrict them to 250 was fantastic with all the bowlers doing an excellent job.

“At half-time we genuinely believed we could knock them off, especially knowing Brentwood had a weekend bowling attack.

“However it was a case of the same old story for us where we let ourselves down with the bat.

“Several people got in and out but no-one went on to score a big shot.

“What was most upsetting was the modes of dismissal, poor shots and batsman error.

“We need to bounce back now and push on for the rest of the season because it really is now or never if we want to stay in the league.”

Having won the toss, Brentwood made 251/8 in the Shepherd Neame Essex League Premier Division clash, led by Tom Oakley’s 66.

And in reply, Southend crumbled to 165 all out, with Anthony Giles taking three wickets.

Southend’s bowlers took regular wickets having been asked to bowl first, but they could not stop runs being scored, meaning Brentwood dominated.

Brentwood openers Aaron West and Guy Balmford fell short of a 50 opening partnership, with West being bowled by Arafat Bhuiyan with the score at 48/1.

Balmford went on though, notching a half-century.

He was out shortly after, caught by Carl Lees off the bowling of John Horne for 51.

From there, a partnership of 79 from Will Buttleman and Oakley left them in charge.

Some late boundaries from Joe Buttleman pushed Brentwood onto a good total, with three wickets for Bhuiyan and two for Horne and Joe Robbins.

But, in reply, bottom of the table Southend lost early wickets, slipping to 35/3, with Charlie Lockhart, Carl Lees and Oliver Wagstaff falling early on.

Five batsmen passed 20 runs but none went past 30 as Southend failed to push on towards their target.

Late partnerships reduced the deficit, with 27, 20 and 19 runs put on for the eighth, ninth and 10th wicket respectively.

But it was still a crushing defeat for Southend, who remain bottom of the Premier Division on 52 points.