DROITWICH Spa CC First XI still have third place in their sights after enduring a weekend of mixed fortunes.

Ian Duggan's team ran out comfortable nine-wicket home victors against a Bromyard side who could only field seven players last Monday but lost by 47 runs on the penultimate ball at Hagley last Saturday.

Spa now sit sixth in Worcestershire County League division one but are only 19 points behind fourth place Luctonians and 21 points adrift of third place Pershore, the two teams Spa end their season against.

On Monday, Bromyard won the toss and elected to bat and the openers E Oliver (45) and M Bullock (21) put up some real resistance.

They were batting well within themselves trying not to lose wickets, given the number of players available to them.

Scoring was slow but Gary Cartwricht and Mike Gunston in particular bowled well early on trying to tease the visitors into an aggressive shot.

Martin Woodward then picked up three of the six wickets to see Bromyard post 138.

It was a case of getting the job done as quickly as possible and Duggan (40 not out), Stuart Bryan (33) and Dave Scott-Walker (54no) knocked off the total in 18 overs for Spa's 24 points.

Last Saturday, Droitwich travelled to Hagley and were unfortunate that they had to field in extremely wet conditions as Hagley posted a competitive total of 174-6 in the 34 over match.

This was mainly down to P Burden who top scored with a well-crafted 81 and S Crane who scored 40.

Both Adrian Field and Mike Rogers picked up two wickets apiece but in reality a poor fielding display enabled the hosts to score more runs than they should have.

In reply, openers Scott-Walker (30) and Cartwright (22) started well. The pair scored 40 off the first six overs before Cartwright went for one big shot too many and was well caught at deep mid-wicket.

Then, when Scott-Walker was run out in a mix-up with Captain Duggan, all the pressure was on Spa to keep the run rate up to speed.

Only Duggan (19) and Mike Gunston (19) held much resistance and the wickets fell all to frequently.

A draw seemed inevitable with two wickets left and only one over to bat. But Glen Harrison was bowled by Trinham without offering a shot off the first ball of the final over.

This left last man Field to see out the remaining five nerve jangling deliveries to prevent a Hagley victory.

With all the fielders surrounding the uncomfortable Field, he saw off the next three with no problems but was bowled through his legs off the penultimate ball.

Trinham was the pick of the bowlers picking up six wickets for the home side.