COLWALL inched further clear of the drop zone in Worcestershire Cricket League Division One after hanging on to a losing draw at Feckenham while relegation rivals Pedmore and Eastnor both lost.

Ancil Nedd took three wickets and Mike King top scored with 45 as Colwall clinched seven points to move 38 points clear of the bottom two with two games left.

Batting first, Feckenham produced a diligent performance and were given a quick start as opener Muhammad Idress hit Mike King for 28 off his first three overs before being caught by Ancil Nedd off Mike Gooch for 30 out of 39.

His partner Daniel Bloomer then contented himself with the anchor role as he shared a stand of 59 for the second wicket with Jamie Griffiths who was bowled by King for 42.

Josh Stacey came in to hit 68 out of a stand of 123 for the third wicket before he was caught behind by Ben Wheeler off Nedd, who then had Bloomer caught for a patient 67.

But a flurry of sixes from Jamie Reddish (24) saw the final total to 260-6, with Nedd finishing with three wickets and Mike Gooch two.

Colwall suffered the worst possible start in reply as Nick Brown was caught behind off the first ball of the second over from Travis Bartels, before Fergus Cameron came in to share a stand of 64 with King who hit ten fours in reaching 45 when he was caught off Matt Henning with the total on 68.

Cameron and Nedd added 30 before Cameron was caught behind off Henning for 34 and when Nedd (18) and Wheeler were both dismissed with the total on 111 Colwall were floundering.

Henry Coleman smashed four fours and a six in a rapid 26 before he was caught and the tail tried hard to turn the tide.

Jono Gooch (21), Ben Febery (13) and James Wagstaffe (23) picked up useful runs but the task was always beyond them and they settled for the draw, closing on 213-9.

Colwall will hope to secure their survival when they host fellow strugglers Pedmore on Saturday (noon).

Meanwhile, the club’s seconds lost by 88 run to Feckenham in Second XI Division One.

Feckenham compiled a daunting total of 260-9 from their 50 overs and then bowled Colwall out for 172 in the 43rd over of their reply.