CAPTAIN Dan Garner was quick to hail the all-round impact made by Matt Hollingsworth in Braintree Cricket Club's Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship division two match at Sudbury seconds last weekend.

The game ended in a 27-run defeat for a Braintree side who had to travel without a number of regular first-team players as their xx-game winning run came to an end and they dropped from first to third in the division two table.

However, while the result was a disappointment, there were still positives for Garner to take, particularly in the performance of Hollingsworth with both bat and ball after a tight bowling display from the youngster and he top-scored with a maiden half century for the Dolphins' first team.

Garner said: "It was an even game, but we were missing five players including three of our top four.

"Sudbury’s ground is very small - both sides going straight and one side boundary was short on this occasion - and it made defending the boundaries very difficult with miss-hits going for six.

"We batted well in our reply (to Sudbury's 251 for nine) and Dean Bass and Barry Stephens dealt with the Sudbury (East Anglian) Premier League bowler well after losing Chris Leech in the second over.

"But a real positive for us was the overall performance from Matt Hollingsworth.

"He led the fielding with great enthusiasm and effort and his bowling was so consistent that, as the captain, I could set a field knowing he was going to be bowling in the right place.

"But it was his batting that was excellent; due to the reduced team we decided to give Matt a chance up the order after showing a lot of promise so far this season.

"He played an exceptional innings scoring his maiden first team 50 at just 17-years-old.

"He gave our innings a real chance of getting the total but unfortunately we just fell away at the end.

"I think on this occasion we have to look on the positive side and say that we gave it a good chase on a awkward pitch and with the reduced availability.

"I know that we didn’t play badly so we just move on to Clacton on Saturday.

"Hopefully we will gain a few players back this week and a stronger side will give us confidence that we can get back on the winning wagon.

"We have to remember that it was unlikely that we would win every game until the end of the season.

"We have some huge games against the top two still to play so I have no doubt we are still one of the favourites to win the title."