MALDON Cricket Club first team skipper Martyn Coker was disappointed by their narrow defeat against Coggeshall.

Maldon lost their Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship division one match against Coggeshall by four wickets.

Coker’s side managed to set a total of 220 for the visitors to chase but they managed to run it down with six balls to spare.

However, the Maldon skipper was pleased with the start his batsmen made, with Chris Harris securing his first hundred at the top level for the club.

The home side were at 120-2 and in a good position but a lack of runs in the middle part of the innings was to cost them.

Coker said: “We made a really good start to the match.

“Chris Harris batted really well and recorded his first 100 for the first team.

“We made 220 – which is quite a good score.

“But we didn’t really get going in the middle of the innings.

“We were always in the game but just slightly behind it.

“The good things to come out of it was our batting start.

“Chris did really well, Jimmy Ainscough and Robb Mcmillan got among the runs and 16-year-old Matt Coppen also batted really well.

“So these are all positives for us.”

Coggeshall were pegged back in their reply and at 28-2 Maldon looked to be in a good position.

But Dane Cleaver settled the visiting batsmen and amassed 87 runs to steady the innings and set them up for victory.

Coker said: “When we got Cleaver out we thought it was game back on.

“But the rest of the batsmen all chipped in with decent scores and kept going to claim the win.”

Coker, though, and Maldon are looking to the future.

He said: “We have an incredibly young side.

“That was a conscious decision on the club’s part to bring these players on.

“And it is a difficult jump, from playing with the second team in division five and then moving up to play with the firsts in division one.

“It takes a bit of getting used to.

“We have to pick up our fielding.

“We have been a bit poor at the start of the season and that is one area where we have to improve if we want to push on.”

Maldon will look to bounce back from the Coggeshall defeat when they travel to Hadleigh on Saturday.

Coker said: “Hadleigh have had a hard start to the season, losing their first four matches.

“However, they won last weekend and scored 290 runs.

“So it is a bit difficult to know what to expect.

“We beat them at home last year but lost away when chasing a small total which we should have really won.

“So, as I say, it’s a hard one to predict.”