CANVEY Island captain Laurence Shearcroft believes his team are safe from relegation following a comfortable win against Aythorpe Roding in the T-Rippon Mid-Essex League.

The Premier Division victory lifted Canvey almost 70 points above the bottom positions.

It came shortly after the death of life member Phil Foot, which Shearcroft said hit the club hard.

And he praised the first and second team’s displays following the news.

“We had a minute’s silence to remember Phil and we wore black armbands,” said Shearcroft. “It hit the club hard and he was well respected so to get the win was extra pleasing.

“We are basically safe now as Brookweald and Rayleigh below us still have to play each other so we should be fine.

“We were all pumped for it and we had a nice celebration afterwards.”

Taylor Casson took 4-22 as Aythorpe Roding were dismissed for 96 inside 24 overs.

And Shearcroft (23 not out) and Ronnie McClughen (32) saw Canvey home for the loss of three wickets.

The 2s beat second-placed Beaulieu Park in Division Eight to climb to within seven points of their opponents.

Cameron Rising took 4-11 as Park finished on 86, with Peter Cook taking 4-22. Richard Burrill’s 33 saw Canvey home with eight wickets down.

However, it was another week for Rayleigh to forget as all six of its Saturday league sides lost to leave the first, second, third and fifth teams in the relegation zones of their divisions.

In the Premier Division, the firsts visited Goresbrook and were looking good at 49/0, but the introduction of spinner Shane Barwick brought about a collapse and the innings subsided to an all out total of 123, with Will Nolde (34) and Jason Ox (33) impressing. The hosts knocked off the required runs for the loss of three wickets, with Elliot Ward taking 3-30.

In Division 1, the 2s lost by eight wickets against Great Totham despite Chris Frost (29), Sean Binnerman (25) and Colin Mayor (24) impressing.

The 3s were all out for 191 in Division 5, with Sam Law (65 not out) and Matt Verrinder (56) in fine form, but were beaten by five wickets with three overs to spare. David Hall took 3-30.

The 4s were beaten by Rayleigh Fairview in Division 7 and were nowhere near the total of 233/5, all out for 96.

The 5s lost in Division 8 against Little Baddow 2s while, in Division 10, the 6s held out against Beaulieu Park 2s - Mark Callaway (43 not out) and Senith Fernando (22) in until the close.