COLWALL thirds went down to their first Marches League division three defeat of the season on Saturday, victim of the bad weather.

ROSS II v COLWALL III

Not only was the match rain-affected, but their opponents, Ross seconds, had included half their first XI, whose match had been called off that morning.

Batting first on a damp but true wicket, Ross first-teamers Warwick (58), Burnett (103) and Bevan (34) provided the backbone of a big score.

Colwall's teenage pace attack struggled manfully, with Sam Crichard taking the early wicket of Damsell for eight and Julian Alleyne bowling two excellent spells to return 3-58.

The unorthodox spin of Paul Barnes bought a couple of late wickets and Ross completed their allotted 44 overs on 290-6.

Rain delayed the restart after tea, and Colwall's revised total was 251 in 38 overs.

They lost two early wickets when Davey (5) and Bishop (2) gave catches off the bowling of Tregaskas. Purser (34) raised the run-rate before he too was out to the same bowler. Wheeler (19) batted patiently but lost Williams for seven.

This brought in Alleyne to complete an entertaining all-round performance with a hard-hitting innings of 57 that contained no less than 12 4s and one 6.

Runs for the other Colwall batsmen were hard to find in the gathering dusk, so they contented themselves with ensuring batting points before the innings closed on 157-7.

With eight points, Colwall remain well clear at the top of division three.