THE Green 2nds needed to beat leaders Belbroughton in Saturday's Crusader Worcestershire County League Division Three game but fell just short of a challenging total.

BARNARDS GREEN 2nd v BELBROUGHTON 2nd

The visitors' 233-5 was largely down to in-form opener Simon Jessop (110) who was finally bowled by Chris Hill.

In reply, Brian Hancock hit a series of boundaries but Martin Heaton could not get going against some accurate bowling and was caught behind.

Simon Cooke (22) played some nice cover drives and Hancock found it increasingly hard to pierce the field and was out with the score on 83.

John Sherliker and Derek Goodman both departed quickly but Hill and Hancock batted sensibly, pushing the score to 167 in the 40th over.

Just as they were about to make the final assault, Hancock was bowled for 86 then skipper Dick Brown (22) and Hill (43) were both scuppered by Raybould as they attempted to force the score along.

It was left to Mark Perkins and Duncan Bell to bat out the last few balls as the Green ended up 14 runs short, mainly due to an excellent bowling spell by Raybould ( 5 for 84.

l Bardnards Green Sunday 2nd enjoyed a 63-run victory over Worcester 2nd. Green reached 199 (Hill 94).