Loughton 9
Clacton 24
(Essex Two)

LOUGHTON'S doughty display wasn't enough to prevent the league leaders leaving Hornbeam Road with the points.

The hosts opened the scoring via a penalty from Owen Sayers, who extended the advantage to six points following another well-taken kick shortly after.

Clacton looked shell-shocked but recovered quickly and despite defending well for several minutes Loughton couldn't prevent the visiting winger from finding space out wide to score the opening try.

The hosts' defensive line was breached again with a converted try that made it 6-12.

But Loughton closed the gap before the break with a third Sayers penalty.

In the second period Loughton provided their fair share of attacking play but Clacton performed well in defence and looked dangerous with the ball in hand.

In the end the hosts ran out of puff and the visitors added two more tries, one of which was converted to put them out of sight.

The defeat leaves Loughton needing victories from their remaining two fixtures to stand a chance of avoiding the drop.