JAKE Foley admits Colchester and East Essex contributed to their own downfall after they slipped to their first defeat of the Shepherd Neame Essex League First XI Division One season.

The Castle Park side lost by eight runs at Orsett and Thurrock, after coming agonisingly close to victory.

After winning the toss, the hosts posted a total of 228 for seven in their 50 overs.

But despite a battling 50 from number nine batsman Darren Eckford, the visitors were unable to secure the required runs and just fell short of victory.

Colchester skipper Foley said: “With three overs to go, we needed 15 runs and we felt we were in a position to win it.

“But Orsett did a good job to pull us back and we ended up losing the game, which was a shame.

“It was a pretty even match but we weren’t quite on our game and Orsett were.

“We made it hard for ourselves in both of our innings.

“We didn’t bowl well enough and they got 40-60 more runs than they should have done.

“They had a 90-odd run partnership and we needed a couple of wickets in that time which we didn’t get.

“And with our batting, a lot of players including myself got into their 20s but no-one really pushed on from there.

“Darren showed a lot of heart and fight to get us into the position that he did and he did very well.

“We batted well and got very close but it wasn’t to be.”

Colchester’s new bowling duo Taurai Muzarabani (0-50 in 14 overs) and Denson Narayan (2-39 in eight overs) were both economical in their bowling.

Foley, Eckford, Ben Stephens and Jack Hebron also picked up wickets but having been wobbling on 124 for four, the hosts recovered well to post 228 for seven.

Seven of Colchester’s batsmen reached double figures in reply and in addition to Eckford’s half-century, the likes of Narayan (36) and Fernandes (35) made good contributions.

However, it was ultimately not enough to save the visitors from a narrow defeat.

In the Second XI Premier Division, Colchester (225) lost to Wanstead and Snaresbrook (226-4) by six wickets.

Feroze Ahmed scored a magnificent unbeaten 117 in Colchester’s innings.

But the visitors had little trouble chalking off the necessary runs, reaching their target with wickets and overs to spare.