RAYLEIGH captain Jason Ox has called on his team to leave everything on the pitch in the final two weeks of the season as they bid to secure their Premier League status in the T-Rippon Mid-Essex League.

Ox’s team were emphatically beaten by league leaders Springfield at the weekend to leave them at the bottom of the standings.

But matches against Rettendon and Brookweald - the two teams directly above them - means they can still avoid the drop if they secure successive wins.

And Ox has called on his team to do the business.

“We are all still feeling positive,” said skipper Ox. “We know what we need to do to stay up and we are playing two teams we have already beaten this season.

“We beat these two teams in weeks eight and nine so that gives us confidence and, importantly, we need to give ourselves a fighting chance.

“We get on well with Rettendon - who we play this weekend - but it’s a huge game. We need to do the business now.”

Rayleigh were brushed aside by Springfield at the weekend, losing by 10 wickets inside 17 overs - Jim Symonds clubbing an unbeaten century.

But while Ox admits his team were totally outplayed, he says he started the day in a hopeful mood.

Ox said: “We went into the game feeling hopeful as when they arrived we found out they were missing their captain and other key players. We thought we’d have half a sniff and maybe get more points than we ended up with.

“I wanted to bowl but we lost the toss and regular wickets. Jon Cook got a half-century for us while Luke Sullivan (29) also did well. They steadied the ship but with no real acceleration we made it hard for ourselves as their bowling was the area of their game we wanted to go after.

“From that point it was always going to be hard. The form they were on I would have backed them to chase down 300.”

Rayleigh 2s are rock bottom of Division One and were relegated weeks ago although the 3s did secure a fifth win of the season – defeating Ongar – to climb up to fourth from bottom in the standings.

The 4s did not play and it was more disappointment for the 5s as they were edged out by third from bottom Burnham Sports. They remain bottom.

The 6s have two weeks to save their season following defeat against Galleywood. They sit second from bottom in Division 10.