CLACTON took a huge stride towards retaining their Gibbs Denley East Anglian Premier League status for another season on Saturday with an outstanding win over league leaders Swardeston.

CLACTON took a huge stride towards retaining their Gibbs Denley East Anglian Premier League status for another season on Saturday with an outstanding win over league leaders Swardeston.

Swardeston have scored some big totals this year, but they were humbled by the seaside outfit, who had them all out for 79 in just 28 overs.

Captain Martin Smith was chief wicket-taker with four for 31, while Maroof Khan recorded impressive figures of 5-2-11-3.

Despite Clacton losing openers Ryan ten Doeschate (3) and Scott Facey (5) cheaply at the start of their chase, Indika de Saram hit an unbeaten 44 as they reached their modest target in 16.2 overs, for the loss of just three wickets.

Clacton are now 31 points clear of bottom club Fakenham, who lost by four wickets at Godmanchester.

Elsewhere, Bury St Edmunds' dismal run of results continued with a narrow two-run defeat against Norwich.

Chasing 245, Bury looked to be out of the game at 133 for seven before some defiant hitting by No. 9 batsman Philip Edwards (72 from 54 balls) set up a dramatic finish.

With only three overs to go Bury required 28 runs with the final pairing of Edwards and Simon Aldous at the crease.

Aldous, a regular opening batsman for Bury a few years ago before he left to concentrate on the club's Sunday Academy side, and Edwards decided that the win was still possible and pushed for runs.

By the start of the last over, Bury required six runs off of Norwich's Paul Wiseman to complete an unlikely victory.

A single, two dot balls and a leg bye later, Bury needed four off of the remaining two balls. Edwards turned the fifth ball down to fine leg, ran the first quickly and turned to see if a second was possible.

The throw in was hard but low and the wicket-keeper missed the ball. However it unexpectedly ended up at the bowler's end, where the bails were removed by the Norwich fielder.

The agonising defeat means that reigning champions Bury have now gone more than two months and seven matches without a win.

The Suffolk side have now slipped to fifth in the table with two games to play.