GIBBS DENLEY EAPL: Horsford broke their winning duck away from home in magnificent fashion as they completed the double over leaders Swardeston.

Chris Brown's side had failed to win in six completed games on the road this season before Saturday, but the captain took matters into his own hands as his five-wicket haul at The Common set up a four-wicket victory.

Swardeston elected to bat first and at 71 for two, with star duo Richard Sims and Jaden Hatwell having added 47 for the third wicket, they seemed on course for a respectable total.

But the introduction of off-spinner Brown sparked a dramatic collapse as he quickly removed Hatwell, Peter Lambert, Ian Tufts and Will Rist to leave the hosts on 81 for six at lunch.

Soon after the break he struck again with the key dismissal of Sims for 41 and although Swardeston skipper Mark Thomas plundered a quick 18no, he ran out of partners as Luke Caswell (three for 31) mopped up the tail. Swardeston were all out for 106 in the 34th over, with Brown taking five for 15 from eight overs, his second five-wicket bag of the season.

Michael Eccles immediately claimed the wicket of Chris Spenceley and with the score on 27 he struck twice more, removing Matthew Warnes and Daniel Clark.

Reece O'Connell – who had also starred in Horsford's win over Swardeston at Manor Park in May – added 51 for the fourth wicket with Caswell (26) to ease the visitors' nerves. O'Connell hit 67, including nine fours, to take Horsford to within four runs of victory and although he and Ryan Findlay both fell before the job was completed, the visitors won in the 37th over.

Eccles shrugged off his hand injury to finish with figures of four for 47.

Norwich drafted in a Test star for their trip to relegation rivals Clacton, but were left frustrated as the hosts held out for a draw.

New Zealand batsman Timothy McIntosh has arrived on a two-week deal in a bid to boost Norwich's survival chances and although he responded with a half-century and a wicket, it was not enough to secure a much-needed victory.

McIntosh, who has played 17 Tests, recently completed a stint with Scottish club side Greenock and is also available for this weekend's game against Sudbury before returning home.

He hit 62 and featured in an opening stand of 126 with Erik Laubscher (67), while Ashley Watson made 31 as Norwich posted 245 for nine from their 66 overs.

A second victory of the season looked on the cards for Norwich when Clacton were quickly reduced to eight for three with Aaron Watson claiming two early wickets.

Watson went on to take season's best figures of four for 54, but ninth wicket pair Imran Sheikh and Ryan Chamberlain dug in to deny Norwich. Sheikh was eventually dismissed by McIntosh from the last ball of the match as Clacton closed on 194 for nine to maintain a 17-point cushion above the Norfolk side.

Second-placed Vauxhall Mallards were unable to take advantage of Swardeston's slip as they drew at Great Witchingham.

The hosts were put into bat and Sam Arthurton top scored with 68, while Tom Collishaw added 45 in a total of 220 for five from 61 overs. Simon Potger was Mallards' leading wicket-taker with three for 46.

After a shaky start, with Carl Amos departing third ball to Ryan McCone, Mallards regrouped with middle order contributions from Gerrie Snyman (77) and Peter Free (42). Both men fell to James Hale and although McCone picked up three more late wickets, Mallards batted through to reach 202 for eight at the close.

Elsewhere, former Mallards player Kandage Fernando took five wickets to help Sudbury beat Bury by 20 runs, while Saffron Walden drew at Burwell and it was also honours even in a tight match between Halstead and reigning champions Cambridge Granta.

• EAPL SCOREBOARD

• Sudbury (30pts) beat Bury St Edmunds (5) by 20 runs at Bury St Edmunds

Sudbury: A Younger b Edwards 0, J Poulson c Sturgeon b Wright 3, D Batch c Ward b Edwards 13, K Fernando b Wright 49, M Pears run out 6, N Poole c Sturgeon b Rash 5, A Mansfield c Huggins b Rash 3, C Smith c&b Rash 0, B Reece run out 15, J Gallagher c Edwards b Wright 3, M Hunn not out 0; Extras 24. Total 121 (40.2 ovs). Bowling: P Edwards 8-1-21-2, C Wright 13.2-4-31-3, T Rash 7-2-37-3, J Bishop 7-3-20-0, T Huggins 5-2-3-0.

Bury St Edmunds: T Huggins not out 48, C Wright c Fernando b Hunn 25, J Bishop b Fernando 2, S Harvey c Reece b Hunn 1, S Rees lbw Fernando 4, T Adams b Fernando 5, S Ward c Poole b Reece 1, T Rash lbw Reece 2, M J Nunn b Fernando 0, P Edwards c&b Fernando 7, J Sturgeon b Reece 0; Extras 6. Total 101 (32.4 ovs). Bowling: K Fernando 16-4-35-5, M Hunn 7-1-30-2, D Batch 1-0-10-0, B Reece 8.4-2-24-3

• Clacton (9) drew with Norwich (15) at Clacton

Norwich: T McIntosh c Beeson b Gericke 62, E Laubscher b Gericke 67, H Bush c Comber b Gericke 6, C Borrett c Cull b Sheikh 0, AM Watson b Gericke 31, B Wright b Gericke 28, T Goodley c Chamberlain b France 6, C Sutton st Brown b Gericke 0, J Blake c Brown b France 13, AA Watson not out 14, T Pearce not out 1; Extras 17. Total 245-9 (66 ovs). Bowling: B France 16-4-40-2, R Chamberlain 7-2-19-0, G Davson 11-0-52-0, M Beeson 5-0-19-0, S Gericke 18-2-75-6, I Sheikh 9-2-25-1.

Clacton On Sea: G Davson lbw AA Watson 2, B France c B Wright b AM Watson 25, M Cull lbw Borrett 4, M Comber lbw AA Watson 0, G Brown c McIntosh b AM Watson 38, S Gericke lbw AA Watson 42, S Facey cb Bush 42, D Coyle lbw AA Watson 15, I Sheikh c&b McIntosh 18, R Chamberlain not out 2; Extras 6. Total 194-9 (60 ovs). Bowling: AA Watson 16-3-54-4, C Borrett 11-2-33-1, AM Watson 17-5-38-2, T McIntosh 6-1-23-1, T Pearce 2-0-20-0, H Bush 8-1-21-1.

• Great Witchingham (13) drew with Vauxhall Mallards (8) at Walcis Park

Great Witchingham: JM Spelman c Free b Bradshaw 23, J Hale run out (Turner) 20, S Arthurton jnr c&b Potger 68, T Collishaw c Gilbert b Potger 45, R McCone c Bradshaw b Potger 23, S Arthurton snr not out 25, S Groves not out 10; Extras 6. Total 220-5 (61 ovs). Bowling: P Bradshaw 17-5-38-1, M Addison 10-2-32-0, A Todd 14-1-51-0, G Snyman 12-2-47-0, S Potger 8-0-46-3

Vauxhall Mallards: C Amos c Dyer b McCone 0, D Turner c Groves b Dyer 18, R Goodenough lbw JM Spelman 8, G Snyman c Groves b Hale 77, P Free c S Arthurton snr b Hale 42, A Shearer b McCone 19, S Potger not out 17, P Bradshaw c Groves b McCone 0, C Gilbert b McCone 0, A Todd not out 1; Extras 20. Total 202-8 (51 ovs). Bowling: R McCone 15-3-52-4, JM Spelman 4-0-18-1, JO Spelman 7-1-28-0, A Dyer 9-0-29-1, J Hale 13-2-45-2, S Arthurton jnr 3-0-13-0.

• Swardeston (3) lost to Horsford (25) by four wickets at The Common

Swardeston: J Abraham c Caswell b MW Warnes 3, D Martin c Smith b Watson 18, R Sims c Smith b Brown 41, J Hatwell b Brown 14, P Lambert b Brown 0, I Tufts c Watson b Brown 4, W Rist c Caswell b Brown 0, G Walker c Wilkinson b Caswell 3, M Thomas not out 18, S Thelwell b Caswell 0, M Eccles b Caswell 2; extras 3. Total (34 ovs) 106. Bowling: MW Warnes 9-3-22-1, B Watson 6-1-35-1, L Caswell 11-2-31-3, C Brown 8-3-15-5.

Horsford: C Spenceley c Hatwell b Eccles 0, MR Warnes b Eccles 5, R O'Connell lbw Walker 67, D Clark b Eccles 0, L Caswell b Hatwell 26, M Wilkinson not out 6, R Findlay lbw Eccles 0, C Brown not out 4; extras 0. Total (6 wkts, 36.4overs) 108. Bowling: M Eccles 12.4-2-47-4, M Thomas 3-0-12-0, S Thelwell 5-1-16-0, J Hatwell 7-1-22-1, G Walker 9-4-11-1.

• Burwell (254, 65.4 ovs, G Goosen 116, D Cousins 4 for 52) drew with Saffron Walden (207-4, 56 ovs, J.Gallian 109no) – Burwell 15 points, Saffron Walden 11

• Halstead (261-9, 58 ovs, A Gupta 62, B Blackwell 60) drew with Cambridge Granta (271-8, 62 ovs, A Fullarton 69, J Handley 59) – Halstead 12 points, Cambridge Granta 17