LECHLADE skipper Freddie Martin was left bemoaning his misfiring batting line-up after they fell to a shock defeat away to Thornbury.

Saturday’s hosts sat bottom of the Prem 2 Glos/Wilts table going into the game but were able to stifle their visitors to secure an eight-wicket success.

James Palmer (38) got Lechlade off to a promising start at Ship Field, however, only Martin’s knock of 32 was noteworthy as they slipped to 148 all out inside 35 overs, with Thornbury’s Dan Davis the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-21.

Lechlade responded well with the ball with the hosts 31-2 at one stage, however, Kyp Bridgen and Josh Slade both hit unbeaten 51s to see Thornbury home comfortably.

“It was a bit of a shame. To only come away with two points was not what we wanted,” said Martin.

“We batted first and we actually got off to a really good start, James Palmer was timing the ball really nicely to carry on his good form.

“Tom Young batted well as well, however, after they went, nothing really followed.

“It is the first time this season that our batting line-up hasn’t really fired and nobody was able to stick around for too long.

“You have got to give credit to Thornbury, though, they batted really well. I think it was probably the best bowling attack we have come up against this season.

“It was definitely not a 148 wicket. I thought it was going to be quite a high-scoring game, they had a good wicket and a small ground.

“We still thought we had a chance but they came out and batted very sensibly and knocked it off with only two down.

“We got them two down pretty quickly but we dropped a couple of catches and I think they were pretty vital.”

Lechlade lost their spot at the top of the table as a result, with Goatacre beating Biddestone by 18 runs to leapfrog them.

However, with only two points between them and the summit, Martin knows all is not lost in their bid for promotion.

“From our point of view, for the rest of the season we need to go on a bit of a run if we want to finish top,” he added.

“Hopefully it was just a blip and we are just raring to go for next weekend.”