Saffron Walden stay top of the Shepherd Neame Essex League Premier Division after a credible draw at Wanstead on Saturday. Walden were on the attack throughout, but in the end had to settle for 10 points. It would have been nice to get the win, but I m

Saffron Walden stay top of the Shepherd Neame Essex League Premier Division after a credible draw at Wanstead on Saturday.

Walden were on the attack throughout, but in the end had to settle for 10 points.

"It would have been nice to get the win, but I'm not too disappointed with the draw," said captain Joe Holland.

"Adam Wheater and Charlie Knightley got us in a position to win it and we were attacking nicely until Adam was run out. That put us on the back foot and our momentum was lost, so in the last four overs we said we would take the 10 points."

Walden won the toss and elected to field first and this looked like paying off when Josh Coote bowled opener Arfan Akram for a duck. Fellow opener Hassan Chowdhury made 34, before Ad Akram was out for just nine runs.

J Chambers made 45 and was well supported by A Joslin (40). M Fayyaz made 14 and S Saeed hit 32 not out as Wanstead finished on 255-9.

Pick of the Walden bowlers was Coote (11-2-43-2) Tim Phillips (14-4-48-1), Joe Barrs (9-4-23-2) and Knightley (13-3-48-4).

Walden got off to a solid start in reply with Ryan Sparrow making 29 and Ray Mordini putting on 49 on his return to the side.

However, the next three batsmen disappointed, with Staines, Holland and Phillips putting on just 19 runs.

Wheater came in and steadied the ship hitting 51 and he was helped by Knightley who made 46 not out.

Coote (0 no), came in after Simon Parmenter had been dismissed on six, as the visitors held on for the draw, finishing on 217-7 after 54 overs.

l Saffron Walden progressed in the Essex 20-20 Cup on Sunday, defeating Hornchurch by 36 runs in the third round at Catons Lane.

"Parmenter batted brilliantly to get us to a decent total and in the end it was comfortable," said Holland. "We had a strong side out and every competition we enter we want to win."

Put into bat, the hosts got off to a decent start with openers Neil Gladwin and Sparrow putting 29 and 25 runs on the board respectively.

Ray Mordini hit 24, but received little help from Holland and Ford who were out for one run each.

Parmenter (29), came to the crease and took the score forward with Tim Smith (10), the only other scorer of note as Walden finished on 135-8 after 20 overs.

Hornchurch lost opener M Church for three, before P Murray (19), K Shallow (13) and A Roberts (10), increased the run rate.

However the only other batsmen to get into double figure were N Whitlock (27) and R Burd (11) as Hornchurch were skittled out for 99 in 18.1 overs.

Taking the wickets for Walden were Coote (3.1-0-23-1), J Read (4-0-22-4), T Smith (4-0-14-3), Steve Atherton (4-0-18-1), Scot Bakker (3-0-22-0).

On Saturday Walden host second placed Gidea Park & Romford, before visiting Bromley in the Evening Standard Challenge Trophy Fourth Round on Sunday.

"It's a massive game against Romford and if we can get 20 points and limit them to six or seven it would be a huge win for us," said Holland.

"Sunday is also a massive game and they are a very strong side. We need to go there and be confident enough to do a job.

"This is why you play cricket, for these types of games and it's great fun," he added.