East Sussex League: Glynde skipper Ian Mepham insists it is between his side and Chiddingly for the championship.

The top two go head to head this Saturday with Chiddingly now holding a five-point advantage at the top.

Glynde lost top spot on Saturday after being held to a draw by local rivals Ringmer in a match which ended in controversy.

With Glynde needing four to win off the last two balls with two wickets to spare, Sam Adams took two runs down leg side.

The ball was returned to the wicketkeeper who caught it and threw it to a fielder who dropped the ball and Glynde ran two more.

The umpires called dead ball and deemed that only two runs had been scored but the players argued whether the Ringmer wicketkeeper had taken the ball cleanly.

With one more delivery to come, Adams was caught and bowled by Murray Barnett (3-73), leaving Glynde one run short of victory on 197-9.

Mepham said: "If the wicketkeeper gathered it cleanly then the umpires were right to say dead ball. But some of our lads and a number of spectators were sure he didn't take it cleanly. To be fair, I didn't have a good view of it and we can only go with what the umpires said."

Ringmer had posted 198-8 with Mick Turner scoring 50 and Richard Thomas 30 as Joe Adams claimed 4-46.

In reply, Richard Harding hit a superb 101 and Dominic Shepheard 38 as wickets fell to Barnett and Graham Pitts (3-25).

Mepham said: "It is between us and Chiddingly now. The other teams have got quite a bit of catching up if they want to win it.

"There is little to choose between us and Chiddingly but whoever wins on Saturday will be in pole position.

"There are four games to go and we have still got to play the other three teams in the top four. There is still plenty of cricket to be played.

"There is a good chance this could be my last year as captain and it would be nice to win it in my last year."

Mepham believes Ringmer may have got more out of Saturday's game if they have been more adventurous "We have played all the cricket this year. Against every side we have played to win but other sides have not been prepared to play ball.

"Ringmer probably could have bowled us out if they had been more attacking."

Chiddingly went top thanks to a fantastic performance from skipper Tom Carr away to third-placed Heathfield Park.

Home captain Ian Cox hit 65 but his side were dismissed for 121 with Carr taking 7-41. Chiddingly then slumped to 80-7 in reply but Carr's unbeaten 38 saw them to victory with no further loss.

Crowhurst Park jumped back up into third spot after a high-scoring draw at home to Newick.

Opener and captain Paul Brookes was dropped three times on his way to scoring a century for the hosts. With Michael Legg hitting a belligerent 50, Park were able to post 295-4 declared.

In reply, Tim Gill hit a fluent 75, opener Sam Carter and Miles Caldwell 50 apiece but Newick eventually settled for a draw at 260-8.

Fourth-placed Fletching held on for a draw at Herstmonceux. The home side were in trouble at 98-5 with their key batsman Paul McDonald having retired hurt. But McDonald returned to finish with a cultured 89, sharing in a sixth wicket stand of 108 with Dale Mayhew (40 not out) to get the score up to an impressive 221-6.

In reply, slow off spinner Greg Watson was Herst's inspiration as he took 6-77 off 22 overs which included Fletching's top five batsmen. Dale Mayhew chipped in with 3-29, including the key wicket of Andy Fitzgerald (32), but Andy Horscroft (31 not out) and Sloan Kelly put on 39 for the last wicket for Fletching to salvage a draw at 199-9.

Chris Stanyard shone for Seaford away to bottom side DPB (Eastbourne). Stanyard hit 113 not out as Seaford made 221-5 and he then took five wickets as the hosts were restricted to 184-7 in reply, James Bentley scoring 81.

In division two, leaders Iden lost for a second successive week, this time going down by 30 runs to Hellingly who have gone third in the table.

All-rounder Andrew Wood was the Hellingly hero. He scored 54 after opening the innings, then James Wise (84 not out) and Neil Green (57 not out) put on an unbroken 149 for the third wicket as Hellingly declared on 223-2 after just 43 overs.

Neil Cloute (62) and David White (32) gave Iden a good start in reply but off-spinner Wood then got to work, finishing with figures of 8-39 off 15.5 overs as the leaders were dismissed for 193.

Second-placed Ditchling closed the gap on Iden to 17 points after a four-wicket win at home to St Peters. The visitors made 241-4 with Richard Dale scoring 90, Giles Ward 40 and Simon Coomber 39 not out. Ditchling recovered from 82-4 to clinch victory with nine balls to spare thanks to an unbeaten 99 from skipper Patrick Nolan.

Barcombe lost away to bottom side Battle, who have been rejuvenated by the return of Aussie Rob Quiney. Sanjay Patel hit 63 as Barcombe made 206-7 but Battle passed that with only three wickets down thanks to Jon Gray (67), Quiney (59 not out) and Ben Ridgeway (40).

Jamie Rix scored 100 not out while further contributions came from Bryan Pratt (74) and Brough Cooper (63) as Wadhurst made 272-4. A tremendous finish saw visitors Rottingdean fall just short on 269-6. Mark Grantham scored 68, Andy Aylward 67 and Andrew Bird 58 while Dan Taylor (3-70) was the pick of the bowlers.

Lewes St Michael's went bottom after losing at home to Uckfield Anderida. Jon Smart and Peter Morris took four wickets apiece as St Michael's were bowled out for 154, then Kevin Morton top scored with 35 as Uckfield won by three wickets.