MONMOUTH lost by three wickets in a hard fought home encounter with Feckenham in Division 2 of the Crusader Worcestershire County League.

They recovered from a bad start to make 188 before being bowled out in the 49th over and then saw their opponents do the same to ease themselves home at 189-7 with just 10 balls to spare.

Monmouth slipped to 41-4 when they batted, but then Charlie Bye came to the wicket and turned the innings around. He struck 63 runs (seven fours and a six) off just 56 balls to post a decent total. Wayne Etheridge (33) was the other significant scorer.

When Feckenham batted after tea they also appeared to be in trouble at 41-3 after 14 overs. Will Lyon, who had already left his mark on the game with 4-41 in the Monmouth innings, then turned it into a man of the match performance. The Australian stroked a stylish 68 to push the score on to 157-5 after 40 overs.

Spinner Mark Temple (5-75 off 21.4 overs) kept plugging away but the visitors squeezed home for the loss of two more wickets.

Wormelow suffered their second league defeat of the season when hosts Alvechurch cruised home by six wickets chasing a target of 227, and with eight overs in hand.

After losing an early wicket, consistent batting down the order left Wormelow on 226-6 at the close of their innings. Matt Shaw (26) and Chris Powell (59) set the base and then Tim Boulter (20), Rob Gummer (63) and Shaun Waldron (35 not out) increased the tempo during the second half of their innings.

Wormelow made an excellent start with the ball, Llewellyn Davies and Boulter removing the openers for 2 and 0 respectively. The success was short-lived as S Smith (120 no) and C Gamage (72) batted Alvechurch into a winning position.

They used eight bowlers but their only success was a second wicket for Boulter (2-49) and one for Waldron.

Luctonians endured a day that is best forgotten. They found top-of-the-table Barnards Green in irresistible form and returned home thrashed by 209 runs, in spite of the home side declaring their innings five overs early.

Kevin Golder scored 125 to set the Green on their way when they batted first. He was fourth man out at 245 but the carnage continued as the later batsmen piled on the runs, allowing skipper Chris Smedley the luxury of declaring after 45 overs with the score on 335-8.

Paul Davies was the one bowler able to look at the scorebook with any pride, taking 5-58 off 12 overs.

Any chance of the home side requiring the extra overs soon vanished as wickets tumbled when Luctonians responded after tea. Only James Sparey (24) and Dave Bottoms (25) offered any resistance and the Mortimer Park side were blown away for 126 in 31 overs. Tim Williams (5-46) was the main destroyer.