Braintree's promotion push took a bit of a knock as they went down by 7 wickets to fellow Div 5 wannbee's Stowupland in what was certainly a game of 2 halves in IP14.
The home side won the toss and put Braintree in on what looked to be a flat and firm wicket, but it wasn't long until the local knowledge became apparent as the opening pair were faced with variable bounce from ball one. Both Dave Hale and Matt Renvoize were forced to adapt their usual positive approach in light of the conditions but non-the-less got Braintree off to a reasonable start before Hale looked to turn a full ball into the leg-side only to see it stop in the pitch and the resulting leading edge ballooned back to the bowler, Albie Blanchard, who took a simple catch. Stand in skipper Himesh Patel, having promoted himself to 3, soon joined Hale in the shed as he played an injudicious pull from his second ball and found Kieran Makell at Mid-wicket to Blanchard a second victim.
Renvoize and Rory Ciccarelli-Ainsley then looked to change the tide of the game with Ainsley in particular latching on to anything wayward. The pair had taken the score to 105 when Renvoize holed out to Andrew Argent to give Ollie Miller his first wicket and then the introduction of leg spin turned the tide in the home sides favour as Dan Marsh removed Ainsley (44), Guy Walton (19), Andrew Sherry (2) and Jerry Hollingsworth in quick succession. Jay Singh Shera (32*) and Callum Lazarus (15) added impetus late on for The Dolphins as they put on a valuable 34 for the 8th wicket and with Calley Foyster adding 2 before being caught from the last ball of the innings the score ended on 196.

With conditions changing towards batting with every over that passed Braintree desperately needed to get into the top order early but in striving to do so offered up some early scoring opportunities for the home side which the impressive looking Dan Marsh latched on to. It was to be Marsh who departed first however as, having survived a close appeal for LBW in the previous over, saw his middle stump knocked back by Andrew Sherry for 23.
In the 9th over disaster struck for Braintree when Sherry pulled up with a Hamstring injury and was resigned to standing motionless in the slips for the rest of the game. With an already depleted attack ,the last thing that Braintree needed was to lose their talisman, and it would prove to be a match defining moment.
Josh Paget worked tirelessly through his 9 over spell, beating the bat regularly, and eventually got his reward trapping Kevin Roche in front for 19. Ollie Miller and Skipper Louis Blanchard then increased the intensity for the home side, using the spaces in the outfield well and running with intelligence as they ticked the scoreboard over with relative ease. Having tried the seam options with himself and Callum Lazarus, skipper Patel turned to Dave Hale to bowl his first overs in 8 weeks in partnership with Cally Foyster. Hale got rid of Blanchard for 26 thanks to an excellent catch from Jerry Hollingsworth behind the stumps but that was where the wicket taking ended as Ollie Miller's excellent knock of 87* saw his side home.
Abertons thrilling 310 each tie with Felixstowe means Brainttree retain second spot despite the defeat, and they will look to bounce back at home to Kesgrave II's next weekend