Ilford Catholic lost to champions Theydon Bois by nine runs in Herts and Essex Division One.

Theydon batted first and Catholic spinner Ravi Ramanuja bowled an excellent opening spell (two for 23) taking the wickets of Will Stoner and Paul Sartoretti.

After Vince Mulholland bowled Pienaar with an excellent yorker Theydon were on 39 for three however Rob Bullivant and Adam Marnoch put on a stand of 42 to steady the innings.

Abdul Wahab's pace and swing tested the Theydon batsmen but Bullivant held the innings together with 71 not out to take Theydon to 163 all out. In reply Catholic lost the two early wickets of Solusan Thiru and Vince Mulholland and were 9 for two however Ryan Naylor and Ed Tooth put on 70 for the second wicket before Naylor (49) fell one run short of a half century.

After Naylor departed the run rate begun to climb with Catholic needing 60 from the last ten overs. Tooth was then caught by Stoner from the bowling of Bullivant for 41, but great contributions from Wahab (17) and Subramani (15) kept Catholics in the game, however wickets continued to fall leaving Catholics just nine runs short of victory. Theydon’s Adam Marnoch returned figures of three for 29.

The Seconds extended their lead at the top of Division Six after a nine-run win over North Weald.

Catholic batted first and Bob Marsh and Annanth Kumar had 17 on the board after three overs. However Kumar, Riches and Skandamorrthy all fell cheaply and after 20 overs Catholic were 62 for three. Marsh played very well and was very unlucky to be out for 35.

Thaya Sivasuthan and Madhavan Bakthavatchalam put on 44 in seven overs, before Sivasuthan departed for a well made 41. Bakthavatchalam went on to 33 and good contributions from Fernando (19) and Mukhitar Singh (14) helped the score to 188 all out.

Mukhitar Singh and Anujan Thiru opened the bowling and kept things very tight. Oliver Graham removed the dangerous opener Mir for 28 and Gowtham Rajasegaran took a wicket with his first ball. After 23 overs the score was 69 for three so the match was evenly poised.

Rajasegaran dismissed Vince Curren with an excellent caught and bowled and Thiru returned to pick up a wicket with the last ball of his spell.

Oliver Graham took the key wicket of Ward who made a quickfire 27 which left North Weald on 152 for eight in the 40th over. The game was still in the balance but it was left to the experience of Kumar and the Fernando to secure the victory for Catholics.

The Thirds were beaten in their friendly with Washington.

Catholics started the game well, restricting the early Washington batting order to just 52 for one from the first ten overs.

However, two fifties from Washington batsmen Hill (63) and Harris (85 not out) pushed the run rate up despite a resilient bowling attack from the Catholics.

Washington finished off with 245 for three from 36 overs, with the wickets coming from Rohit Rajasegaran and Gordon Graham who were backed up by the rest of the Catholics bowling attack throughout.

Keeper Mohammed Zaman and 13-year-old Louis Morgan (21) got the Catholics off to an excellent start.

An entertaining cameo from Ebin Roberts (35), which included a massive six almost catching some Barkingside sunbathers off guard, moved the Catholics score on to 70 for three.

However, a late tumble of Catholic wickets from Peter Kloss left them 88 all out with just eight overs to go.