2s wavering at Havering

Another week, another batting collapse for the 2's who slip to the bottom of Division Two, albeit only 11 points out of 5th place in a Division tighter than a Wilkinson convention.

Promotion chasing Havering Atte Bower having chased off the caravans from their square the previous week, spent the first 25 overs despatching the Goresbrook bowling in similarly ruthless fashion to reach 120-0 before the Goats summoned up a fightback led by Billy Smith's typically frugal 10-0-25-1.

Although home opener Tom Mitchell battled on to 110 despite being dropped twice by Lee Jones, the other HAB batsmen struggled to pick up momentum and Matt Friend (2-21) and Daryl Forward (3-58) ensured a respectably end to proceedings, Havering closing on 221-6, which is far from an imposing total on the tight confines of the Broxhill Road ground.

It didn't need to imposing however to be too many for a 2's batting order that misfires about as often as Birdy's old Largo did in it's pre-scrap yard days, as a flurry of boundaries from Joe Curley preceeded the usual flurry of wickets that saw the 2's slump to 54-6.

The only decent partnership of the innings between Gillham junior (44) and Williams quite senior (44*) saw Brook into the batting points, but numbers 9 and 11 saw little point in hanging around after young Danny missed a straight one, leaving Richie with a red-inker and Brook with a mountain to climb in the second half of the season to maintain Division Two cricket.