CAPTAIN Josh Wells knows Halstead Cricket Club have the talent to be match-winners in Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship division one, but he feels his team need to show greater consistency to prosper.

Halstead's up and down start to the season continued last weekend as they were unable to back up a superb victory against a much-fancied Witham team the week before and fell to a 62-run defeat at the hands of Mistley.

The loss left Halstead still looking to register back-to-back wins this year and they are sat tenth in the division one table ahead of a trip to Coggeshall on Saturday.

Wells is confident his team have the ability to be much further up the standings than where they currently are, but knows they have to show it week-in week-out.

He said: "We are lacking a bit of consistency at the moment and we just need to string some results together.

"I know we can do that as it's a division this year where anyone can beat anyone.

"That's shown by the fact that no-one is running away with it at the top.

"I just feel that we need to be positive because we know we have a good side and we can beat anyone, so we just have to be confident.

"A very good player made the difference for Mistley last weekend, but I know we have match-winners in our side and it's just a matter of people standing up and putting in those big performances.

"We haven't had anyone taking a five-for yet this year or scoring a hundred so we just need to be positive.

"We're expecting a different team to line up at Coggeshall as we have Charlie Douglas-Hughes, Shorn Bobb and Joe Morris all available again so hopefully we can put in a strong performance there."

The defeat by Mistley came on the back of a superb batting display by the Swans' overseas player Kahlipha Cele, with the South African hitting an unbeaten century as the mainstay of his team's total of 233 for nine.

Jimmy Goff then claimed five wickets as Halstead's run chase was restricted to 171 for seven from their 50 overs, but Wells was in no doubt where the game was won for Mistley.

He said: "It was a disappointing result, but a bit of a funny one to sum up.

"Their overseas player got 130 out of a total of 230 and we never really got going in our run chase. "Their score was a good one on that wicket, but we felt we were in the game at the halfway stage, but they kept it tight and we lost wickets at crucial times.

"However, I think that score of 130 (by Cele) was the difference."