Harrison's five-wicket haul against Bexhill boosts Roffey's title chances

Title-targeting Roffey skipper Matt Davies has reiterated that he does not think it will be easy to retain their crown for a fourth successive season.
Horsham v Roffey (batting) Theo Rivers 25.06.16  Pic Steve Robards  SR1618520 SUS-160627-202656001Horsham v Roffey (batting) Theo Rivers 25.06.16  Pic Steve Robards  SR1618520 SUS-160627-202656001
Horsham v Roffey (batting) Theo Rivers 25.06.16 Pic Steve Robards SR1618520 SUS-160627-202656001

The Boars recorded a convincing eight-wicket victory at home against lowly Bexhill that saw them hold their place at the top of the Premier Division.

The home side won the toss and elected to field and this move paid dividends as Bexhill were bowled out for 121. In reply, Roffey chased down the total in 21 overs.

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The victory sees Roffey stay at the summit of the league, and Davies believes that despite their title aspirations, there will be plenty of teams trying to catch them.

Davies said: “We expect the best for ourselves. I’d be lying if I said we didn’t have aspirations to win the league.

“We know that it’s not going to be easy so we’re just going to be taking it game by game.

Horsham and Cuckfield drawing last weekend has boosted the gap at the top.

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East Grinstead are up there like last season, and I feel that Horsham and Cuckfield will be competing as well.”

With no Bexhill batsman imposing themselves, Roffey’s bowlers produced a controlled yet destructive display.

The visitors started brightly, with Alex Collins (1-23) and the superb Leigh Harrison (5-23) taking two early wickets which left Bexhill struggling at 29-2.

It didn’t get any better for the home side as their batsman could only post meagre totals.

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Number four Jake Lewis top-scored with 19 as Bexhill’s batsman struggled to contend with the Roffey bowlers.

Liam Bryant at seven cameoed with 18 off 15 balls, but after the loss of his wickets Bexhill only added 18 runs for their last three wickets.

Theodore Rivers (41) and Rohit Jagota (22) were the only Roffey wickets to fall.

The innings was seen out by the quick fire pair of Jibran Khan (29* in 27 balls) and Manenti (29* in 19) as the visitors claimed a comprehensive win.

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Roffey’s next league fixture see them travel to Brighton & Hove this weekend.

Davies said: “I think it was a pretty convincing win. We performed to the level that we wanted to before the game.

“It was always a game we expected to win so it was nice for it to be such a convincing win.

“We build a lot of pressure with our bowling attack.

“It makes it easier to captain a side with the bowling attack that we have. They’re so consistent and economical at the same time.

“It was nice to show the gap between the two sides.”