South and Chingford battle to beat drop

SOUTH WOODFORD will slug it out with local rivals Chingford to avoid relegation after suffering a heavy eight-wicket defeat to Upminster.

A disappointing batting display allowed their hosts to coast home and send Richard Browne’s men to the foot of the table.

But South Woodford were handed a much-needed lifeline after it was revealed that Saffron Walden’s imminent withdrawal from the Premier League means only one side will be relegated.

The High Road side are just two points behind neighbours Chingford with three games remaining and Browne is confident his men can deliver, although he accepts they must up their game if they are to survive.

“Of course, we’d have our backs to the wall if two sides were going down as we’re quite a way off Colchester," he said.

“But if we can win two of the last three games I think we can pip them.

“We’re a bit low on confidence at the moment and I think Chingford are in the same boat as us as things haven’t been going too well for either of us.”

South Woodford find themselves propping up the table for the first time this season after a dismal batting display cost them dear last week.

Batting first, the visitors endured a wobbly start but quickly recovered to 100-3 and looked well-set to post a challenging total.

But that quickly changed as a middle order collapse exposed the tail and with the only resistance coming from Irfan Ul-Haq (36), Woodford fell to 146 all out.

Salim Akbar removed Upminster’s opener Arshad Ali early on but a massive partnership between Steve Wright and Shafiq Rahman ended any hopes Woodford had of an upset.

“The batting let us down,” reflected Browne. "We’re going to have to make some changes for this week and bring some guys up from the second team to give us some experience.

“We need to just win as many as we can from here.

“Our run-in isn’t too bad either so I’m confident we can do it.”