Halstead Cricket Club captain Ed Clark confident his three-in-a-row Two Counties champions will hang around for shot at history following play-off exit to Ramsey

Halstead captain Ed Clark is confident he can keep his side together in light of a third straight play-off defeat to attempt to make history through a fourth straight title ahead of looking to finally get promotion over the line.

The north Essex outfit saw a golden opportunity to finally reclaim their place in the Thurlow Nunn East Anglian Premier League (EAPL) - after 12 years - slip through their fingers once again.

Having had guaranteed home advantage in both the semi-final and final of the play-offs this time around, it will actually be Ramsey’s Nest ground, and not Star Stile, hosting the shootout match against visiting Downham Stow with the prize of a promotion spot for the winner.

As they did two years ago, perennial Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship Division One champions Halstead (149) fell short in Sunday’s semi-final with Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Premier League victors Ramsey (161), by just 12 runs with a ball short of five overs available.

It came after having inserted their visitors to bat, and the skipper having been pleased to have bowled them out for 161 on a pitch that promised more. Josh Wells led the wicket-taking with 3-54 from 10 overs but Josh King proved the most economic with 2-15 from 9.3 overs.

But the home side’s batsmen, without returned Kiwi overseas pro Joey Field failed to deliver on the big occasion with eight of the 10 not reaching double figures, including four going for no score. Craig Spooner’s 59 got them close but ultimately they ran out of numbers at the crease.

“Obviously it’s very disappointing because that (promotion) was our target from the start,” said long-serving captain Clark.

“We put ourselves in a good position, but it’s a sport, isn’t it? There’s a loser and a winner.

“We were on the wrong side again, but as I said after the game to the boys, it’s not a knock on what we’ve achieved or the effort that they’ve put in throughout this season because I can’t fault it.”

One chink of light amid the gloom of missing out on promotion in the knockout rounds for a third year on the spin is the chance to immortalise themselves in the Two Counties Championship history books by becoming the first club to ever go four-in-a-row in Division One.

Only Colchester, from 1980-1982 can match their treble of titles in the league’s top tier in its 52-year history.

Clark said: “we’re going to have to dust ourselves off and go again next year.

“Again, that’ll be our target as well as just keep winning and keep enjoying our cricket.”

He added: “We’re going into next season as three-time champs so it’s something that we have to reflect on and be very proud of. I’m very proud of all of the boys and all of the effort that they’ve put in through the season.”

One concern could be the team breaking up with some looking to test themselves in the EAPL with another club. But Clark is confident he will not be having to rebuild the squad.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said, “a lot of our squad are Halstead boys, so we all play for the club because we want to play for the club, not for a reason.

“I’ve been through the Premier League into Division One, down into Division Two and then back up into the Premier League.

“It’s been difficult and at least three quarters of our team have all come through our Colts, so we play for each other rather than necessarily to gain anything financially from which is hard to do from amateur cricket. It’s more just playing for the love of the game really.”

Halstead (215-8) had signed off their regular season on Saturday with a 98-run victory away to Maldon (177) to finish the campaign with one defeat.