EKCO Monarchs and Trojans were unable to stop Fyfield’s recent Division Four success as they lost by five wickets after a successful stands by visiting batsmen Harris (44no) and Walden (39no).

Ecko batted first and after impressive batting from Norfolk (76) which helped them to 189-8 they could have expected to have done better.

And while bowling figures of 4-25 did nothing to harm Gooday’s statistics, it was not enough as Fyfield went on to score 193-5 and retain the top spot.

Batting first Ashingdon expected a better result against High Easter and after a score of 132 was reached by Sutherby alone they seemed to be on track, finally reaching 227-7.

High Easter however managed to extend their league lead over the bottom half of the table to 23 points by scoring 229-3 to win, beating Ashingdon by seven wickets.

South Woodham Ferrers II suffered a crushing defeat away to Eastwood, scoring a lowly 115 all out when compared to Eastwood’s superior 274-5.

The win by 159 runs which keeps Eastwood very much in the title race. Notable scores were Sanford’s 120 for Eastwood.

Bluehouse versus Willow Herbs signalled the start of the Division Five fixtures as it was top versus bottom.

And with Willow Herbs well on top of the league the result was pretty much predetermined, with Willow Herbs winning by five wickets.

Billericay-based Bluehouse batted first and got to a respectable 170-7 but when Willow Herbs came into bat even Teagle’s 3-43 was not enough to hold them back.

In an attempt to slow the charge of second-placed Terling, third-placed Stock II posted a score of 179 all out. But Terling were too good for Stock in the end as they cruised to a four-wicket win, scoring 183-6 on the day.

Sixth-placed Great Totham II faced stiff competition from Hullbridge and with Hullbridge three places and 39 points above them before the start of the match it seemed the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

After Totham scored a fairly low 172-9 it seemed everything was going as planned until Hullbridge were bowled out suprisingly for an even lower 155 all out.

The last game of Division Five this week was a bottom half of the league clash between Rayleigh II and Springfield III which ended in a 12-run win for Rayleigh.

Rayleigh’s Woolf was unlucky not to hit a ton being cut off in his prime at 97 after excellent bowling from Gilmore (4-22) helped bowl the hosts out for 187.

Equally impressive bowling came from Adam Dobson (4-22) , John Stirk (3-44) and Stuart Whiter (2-31) saw Soringfield bowled out for 175.

In Division Six Rayleigh Fairview II took on Old Chelmsfordians II with the Old Boys coming out on top after a scintillating win by 80 runs. The Old Boys’ score of 255-6 was thanks mainly to Steve Wilson (64), Andy Cook (56), and Matt Eva (52).

The game looked like it could be over even quicker at one point until Osbourne and Webster lead a short-lived recovery, scoring 50 and 39 respectively.

They only made it to 175 all out in the end as Old Chelmsfordians bowlers proved too much for them.

There was no real drama at South Weald as Foulness won by six wickets thanks mostly to a superb performance by Foulness bowler Adam Warner who took 6-26 leaving South Weald on 170 all out.

This just left Nick Creek (56) and Cowpesh (39) to ensure no surprises as Foulness posted 171-4.

After Bentley III were sent in to bat first for their encounter with Hockley II they came to a respectable 170 all out after solo efforts from Wilding (92) and Woodrow (23), but, tellingly, they failed to put together any serious partnerships.

Hockley then started their innings fairly timidly, but after the fall of the fourth wicket the team accelerated to victory within 40 overs thanks to 65 from Chris Hayes and 30 from Martin Patterson.

Rayleigh’s first XI remain top of Division Two after beating Danbury Queens Park by five wickets away.

Ian Bryant claimed 5-35 to help restrict the hosts to 186 all out, before Rayleigh replied with 187-5.

Rayleigh III travelled to Broomfield II and posted 248-7, with Paul Dudmish top-scoringg with 72.

Tony Catling (3-20) and Adam Dudmish (2-17) helped bowl the home side out for 101 to give Rayleigh a 147-run win.

A rest from league action did Rayleigh IV no good as they lost by 101 runs to Boreham II in Division 10.

Sam Lowe took 4-35 as Boreham were all out for 186, but Brad Walker (37) was the only Rayleigh batsman to prosper before his side were all out for 85 in reply. Rayleigh V lost by five wickets to Havering-atte-Bower III after being bowled out for 107. Havering replied with 109-5.