Dunmow crashed to a heavy defeat against opposition they felt confident of beating at St Edmunds Lane on Saturday.

Winning the toss and bowling first in helpful conditions for bowling, with a damp wicket and humid cloud cover, got Dunmow off to an excellent start as first Matt Gibson and then Josh Down claimed wickets to leave Brockley reeling at 10-2.

The visitors showed some fight however, as McCafferey, Kearney (49) and Jones added useful runs in effective partnerships. The introduction of Baz Sewell led to a flurry of wickets as he claimed 5-41 from 9 overs, supported by good fielding and catching, but as the players went in for tea, there was a feeling that Brockley had scored 30 more than they should have.

The batting response that followed was, with few exceptions, well short of the standards that Dunmow have tried to set themselves and well below what will be required to gain promotion at the end of the season.

Only three batsmen – Down (18) and twins Ollie (45) and Nick Rooney (18) – made double figures and five batsmen failed to trouble the scorers. Although Reed could claim to have bowled well (5-54), the shot selection of the Dunmow batsmen left a lot to be desired.

Next week, Dunmow host Ipswich & East Suffolk.