HOOK and Newnham Basics still have their eyes set on third spot in Southern League Divison One despite suffering a six-wicket defeat at the hands of Hambledon last week.

This is because the two sides above them in the table, Liphook and New Milton, also lost on the same day.

Next up for Hook is a trip to title chasing Burridge, who are sure to be smarting after they suffered a loss at Andover and lost ground on leaders and reigning champions Sarisbury Athletic.

Hook skipper Ross Hunter said: “We are very much in the hunt for third place, but know this weekend is going to be a tough game. I think if we can finish third it will be an excellent result when you consider the availability this season.”

Once again this week, Hook will be minus players in Hunter and Nick Willcock, but his brother Richard Willcock is back and another batter will promoted from either the second or third teams, while vice-captain Glen Williams takes charge once again.

Last weekend, Hook looked on course for a big score as Ben Thane (47) and top scorer Matt Love (64) helped them to 122-1.

However, not for the first time this year, once the top three were out the side never recovered as they were all-out for 216 on their way to six-wicket loss against Hambledon.

The only positive was an excellent unbeaten 38 from youngster Matt Buckingham, who only recently came into the first team.

Looking back on the game Hunter said: “We did not bowl well and dropped their opener who went on to to get a ton. So we were disappointed with ourselves after the game that we had not played well.

“We did look like we were going to post a big score, but for so much of the season the top three have dominated the batting and guys coming in either have five overs left in the game or are coming with five overs gone.

“Once again we lost one wicket and it became a cluster. It was nice to see Matt Buckingham gets some runs as he is one for the future.”