DESPITE seeing his side suffer only their fourth league defeat of the season Woodford Wells skipper Will Rogers saw his troops crowned Division One champions on Saturday.

Fielding several of the clubs youngsters, Wells lacked the fire-power to bowl out Hornchurch , who went on to secure a six-wicket win. But despite the loss a slip up by closest title rivals Chelmsford against Ilford, allowed Rogers men to make a long-awaited return to the top tier of Essex League cricket.

And the delighted captain said: “It was a bit of a strange day for us because while we were disappointed we lost, we had the joy of winning the division and getting back up to the Premier League.”

And it will certainly be a party atmosphere down at the Monkhams this weekend for the home match with Hutton on Saturday.

“The hard work has already been done and it will be a case of enjoying ourselves against Hutton now,” continued Rogers.

“I'm sure we will give a few of the younger members of the team another run out, but we still want to win the game to finish what has been a fantastic season for us on a real high.

“But if I'm honest I don't think it matters what the result is, because there will certainly be one big party after the game.”