WERRINGTON skipper Nick Lawson admitted Saturday’s defeat at St Just in the ECB Cornwall Premier League was a ‘frustrating day’ after they gave up a promising position to lose by 12 runs at Cape Road.

The result, coupled with Grampound Road’s four-run success at Helston means Werrington are now joint last alongside Truro who saw their trip to Callington cancelled without a ball being bowled.

Just two points separate the bottom three with one side to be relegated.

St Just had beaten Truro by just six runs in a low-scoring thriller the week before, and after winning the toss again, home captain Gareth May chose to bat.

Rhys Brownfield was bowled first ball by Sam Hockin, but Ellis May (25) and Neil Curnow (32) steadily rebuilt until both departed (76-3).

Werrington’s spinners plus seamers Dan Barnard (2-34 off 10) and Jordan Duke (0-14 off 6) kept it tight with Adam Hodgson going for just 17 off his 10 overs plus taking the wickets of May and Philip Nicholas, while Mark Taskis was superb for his 3-26.

But a fourth-wicket partnership of 80 between player/coach Justin Stephens (39 off 69) and Sri Lankan pro Chamikara Edirisinghe (41 off 66) set the platform, and although St Just failed to kick on, two sixes from last man Joseph Clifton-Griffith got them up to 192-9 from their 50 overs.

Werrington found themselves 51-3 in the ninth over with John Moon out for a sprightly 23 and Thulina Dilshan adjudged lbw for just two.

Hodgson (50 off 104) and Mark Gribble (44 off 95) added 80 in just over 27 overs, but once they were separated the home side applied the pressure superbly, led by Edirisinghe’s brilliant 3-7 from 10 overs as they collapsed to 163-9 before ending 12 short.

Reflecting on the game, Lawson said: “Their plan was to get 170-plus and then try and strangle us and it worked.

“When you’ve got ten overs of top-class left-arm spin in Chami it’s never going to be easy, and they got up to a very competitive score with Justin Stephens and Chami batting really well to get them there.

“We knew the chase wouldn’t be easy, but at 131-3 we were ahead of the game with Hodgy and Gribby in.

“But we lost Hodgy and Ben Jenks (Jenkin) quickly, and from there wickets tumbled.

“We knew Chami had four overs left at the death, so in hindsight we probably left ourselves too much to do at the end.

“In the end it was a really frustrating day, especially when you feel like you’re on course but can’t quite get over the line.”

Werrington are back in action on Saturday when third-placed St Austell visit (1pm).

Lawson said: “You can see by their results that they’re playing well, and are a very difficult side to beat.

“They’ll be confident after wins over Penzance, Callington and Wadebridge, but they’ve also lost at Truro and at home to St Just, so they’re certainly beatable.

“They’re another team who like to bat first, put a score on the board and then squeeze and apply pressure.

“We’re playing pretty well for large spells of games, but as I’ve said before we need to learn a bit quicker from our mistakes from the week before.

“We probably need to be a bit more proactive against St Austell, but we’re not far away.”