James Fitzgerald's five-for saw was enough for Wanstead & Snaresbrook Seconds to see off South Woodford Seconds

Wanstead and Snaresbrook Seconds remain in the promotion hunt after picking up a 125-run win at home to South Woodford Seconds, a five-for from James Fitzgerald the highlight.

The hosts won the toss and elected to make first use of the wicket. But they made a faltering start and Bilal Patel’s 52 was the highlight of a less-than-convincing opening.

Misem Ali Syed Zaidi (23), Nabeel Aziz (26) and Corrie Brand (32) picked up some runs in the middle order but it was Jack Lord’s unbeaten 50 which helped nudge the Wanstead total up to 241 for eight after 45 overs.

South Woodford never stood a chance in reply after openers Aditya Nair (9) and Louis Cant (1) were snared by Zaidi (two for 37) and Lord (two for 19) respectively.

Fitzgerald then took centre stage, mercilessly tearing through the South Woodford order to return figures of five for 34 from just 8.2 overs.

South Woodford fell with alarming ease and were all out for 116; Joe Mariani (24) and Omer Qureshi (37) the only men to make any real inroads on the Wanstead total.

Alex Agedah fell three runs short of his century but still steered Chingford Seconds to a 27-run success at home to Shenfield Seconds.

A faltering start with the bat by Chingford saw Paul Shawyer (1) and Joe Samuel (8) head back to the pavilion early on.

Those dismissals brought Douglas Leung (26) and Agedah (97) to the crease. And their lead was followed by Rezwan Rehman (36) and Malik Kashif Jamal (84 not out), eventually posting 295 for five.

James Burgess smashed 104 in response for Shenfield but support around him was lacking and the away side were all out for 268 as Neil Dial helped himself to four for 60.

Second XI Division One

Buckhurst Hill Seconds thrashed Hadleigh and Thundersley Seconds by a huge 172 runs thanks to Carl Solomons’ knock of 167.

Prashant Chand-Bajpal (33) and Ricky Reynolds (18) had made a reasonable start for Buckhurst Hill before, batting at three, Reynolds played his way to an exquisite 167.

Joe Aylott (37) and Alan Dantes (22) supplied further runs as visitors Buckhurst Hill closed on 332 for six.

Hadleigh and Thundersley were always up against it and the bowling of Sam Sullivan (six for 41) ensured a comprehensive victory margin, with Hadleigh all out for just 160 in reply.

A fine display of middle-order batting delivered a one-wicket win for Loughton Seconds over Fives and Heronians Seconds.

Visitors Fives won the toss and elected to bat first. That decision appeared vindicated after Neil Brathwaite (64) and Hugo Blogg (73) put together a good opening partnership. KD Bachu added 34 but then their fortunes soon changed.

Wajahat Bukhari (four for 54) was in fine form and combined with Abdul Nasir (two for 32) and Harry Watson (two for 40), restricted Fives to 249 for nine as the rest of the order flopped.

Both Loughton openers were lost early in the reply but Kieran Scarlioli (46), at three, paired well with Umar Choudhry (77) to get the hosts on the right track.

Connor Sorrell (13 not out) and Nasir (0 not out) delivered the final runs, reaching 250 with a wicket remaining.

Second XI Division Two

A half-century from Abubakr Khalid was enough to help West Essex Seconds pick up a four-wicket triumph at home to Stanford Le Hope Seconds.

The bowling of Rehan Shamim (three for 28), Sohaib Jan (two for 19) and Fahd Aktar (two for 31) was enough to restrict Stanford to 192 all out.

With an achievable target in their sights, West Essex got their reply underway in steady fashion with 29 from Omar Azfal and 13 from Muhammad Ali.

Kabir Khan (45) moved the scoring along before Khalid (51) took over at the crease with an important knock. A further 21 not out from Zain Saleem inched West Essex over the line with 196 for six.

Second XI Division Three

The extras column was Epping Seconds’ top scorer, underlining the woeful nature of their eight-wicket defeat at Horndon on the Hill Seconds.

Losing openers Waqar Yusuf (2) and Uday Patel (17) early was a sign of things to come. Stanley Watson, batting at five, put on a fleeting resistance with 22 but Horndon tore into Epping.

A late 11 from Sindhu Jain helped nudge the away side into triple figures but their innings was soon wrapped up with a paltry 102 their total.

Horndon then cruised to victory, with Daniel Petts (18) and James Stitson (12) nabbing the runs which delivered a winning tally of 103 for two for the home side.

An unbeaten knock of 130 from James Foley proved decisive for Oakfield Parkonians Seconds as they edged out Walthamstow Seconds by nine runs.

After a mixed start which had seen Shane Vamadevan make four and Dhruv Patel hit 35, Foley came to the crease at number four and did not leave after finding his groove.

An enormous knock of 130 made him the pillar of the Parks innings, with Paresh Kalley (36) and Haaris Shah (24) chipping in to put up a total of 284 for six.

Anujan Thiru (three for 54) returned the best bowling figures for Parks but in truth they struggled with the ball and it was a nervy finish as they restricted Walthamstow to 275.

Woodford Green Seconds are perched precariously above the relegation zone after they lost by a wicket at home to Benfleet Seconds.

Inserted after losing the toss, Woodford Green made just 171 all out with 31 runs in the extras column boosting their total in a poor batting display.

In reply, Rob Zammit (58) and Oliver Kersley (50) were on form for visiting Benfleet and supplied the runs to inspire victory with 172 for nine.