Adam Dellar’s men found their promotion challenge given a stay of execution on Saturday, despite losing to league leaders Mistley, after second-placed Exning were defeated by struggling Brightlingsea.

Victory over their promotion rivals would really crank the pressure up, with just six games left of the season.

Dellar said: “If we can beat Exning that will put the pressure on them and they will be thinking ‘God, they’re close’, so it’s a big one.

“We definitely mixed it with Mistley, they came down from Division One so it shows we can compete with the bigger sides.”

Haverhill were actually in control at one stage but five dropped catches and a late blast of 47 runs off the last two overs meant Haverhill had to attack a score of 226, instead of around 180.

Any hope of winning was soon dashed as Haverhill fell to 37-6 but Dan Wilkins, Martyn Wilkins and Simon Youngs all posted decent totals. Martyn Wilkins led with 54no, to move Haverhill to a respectable total.

But despite the comprehensive loss Haverhill will name an unchanged line-up against Mistley on Saturday, meaning Greg Street and Josh Meekings won’t regain their places in the team after making way for Sam Powell and Rob Sullivan this week.

“I’ve got faith in the team,” said Dellar. “If we can put the pressure on early whether we are bowling or batting then we will give ourselves a chance.”