GOATACRE saw themselves knocked off their perch at the top of the table after they fell to a six-wicket defeat away from home.

Ed Wilkins won the toss and opted to open the innings on a good batting wicket at Rockhampton’s Boundary Field.

However, Jack Haines, coming in at number four, was the only batsman who was able to surpass 25 runs as his 87 helped the visitors to a respectable score of 238 - a few shy of what they were targeting.

Goatacre looked to be on track when taking to the field, with the hosts on 67-4 at one stage, but they met stubborn resistance in the form of Matt Tyler (132*) and Jamie Wakefield (67), whose fifth-wicket 174 saw Rockhampton home with two overs to spare.

“It was a bit frustrating,” said Wilkins.

“It was a good toss to win because it was a good batting track and we kind of did okay but we didn’t quite get enough, we felt we were a bit short.

“With such a good track, too many of us got to 15 and 20 and then didn’t push on.

“Only Jake, with 87, had a good innings and we did feel like we had come up a bit short.

“Getting the early four wickets put us in a good position in the second innings but their two guys batted really well and didn’t give us many chances.

“It was one of those days, we didn’t play badly, we were just beaten by the better team on the day.”

Goatacre have the chance to return to the summit this weekend when they host third-placed Cheltenham and welcome back Toby Horton, to strengthen the top of the batting order.

“It is still so close up there,” added Wilkins. “We are within 12 points of Lechlade and we have got Cheltenham this week so it can all change again pretty quickly.

“We have just got to bounce back and look to beat Cheltenham on Saturday at home. It’s only six weeks to go in the season now and we have got to play two of the top three so there is still a lot of cricket to be played.

“We are in with a shout and we are happy with how we are playing so we have every chance going forward.”

It was a bad day at the office for Wiltshire’s contingent in the division as Biddestone, Burbage & Easton Royal and Chippenham all suffered defeats.

Burbage remain rock bottom after suffering a six-wicket defeat to Lechlade, while Biddestone slumped to an eight-wicket defeat at home to a rejuvenated Thornbury side.

An unbeaten knock of 55 from Chippenham’s Paul Bates was not enough to salvage a win against Gloucester City Winget as they fell to a seven-wicket loss.