AFTER a tough period for the Maldon side, they needed a win to help their Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship division one campaign.

Jamie Glenn (65) and Chris Harris (75) opened the batting for Maldon against Witham and made the perfect start with a 102-run partnership at the top.

While Glenn hit the ball to all parts, Harris worked over the Witham batsmen.

Further runs came from returning club legend Ian Elliott, who shot to 62 not out in 50 balls, but quick wickets for G Taylor (2-67) and J Sambrook (3-49) slowed Maldon down slightly.

Towards the end of the innings James Ellis (16) made some important, last-minute runs but the top order had already done enough to put the away side in a comfortable position.

When Maldon took to the field, captain Martyn Coker could not have asked for a better start as Gary Bannister (2-35) trapped Michael Headley LBW first ball.

The rest of the top order struggled to make runs against the Maldon attack but K Hawes (80 not out) showed fight and took it upon himself to save his team.

Partnered with Richard Green (54) this looked possible but Elliot (5-44) continued his dream return to the side with some brilliant bowling to dismantle the middle order in conjunction with James Ellis (2-52).

Both the Maldon batting and bowling was too much for Witham, who had three first ball ducks in their batting innings.

This performance will give the first team a great deal of confidence going forward in the second half of the season.

Skipper Martyn Coker said: “Our side saw former first-team captains Marc Gozzett and Ian Elliott return to the side for the first time this season, while Matthew Coppen made his first-team debut after impressing this season in the second team.

“Ian has been unable to play this season due to family commitments, so his return for the rest of the season is an enormous boost to the side.

“Our fourth win of the season puts us back just behind a pack of three or four teams separated by a small number of points.

“This week’s game against Sudbury will be important to continue on from this week’s result, as we try to leapfrog those sides just above us in the table.