BRAINTREE Cricket Club captain Will Jackson is hoping that his team will be coming down on the right side of the fine lines that separate victories from defeats in the second half of the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship division one season.

While Braintree head into the second half of the campaign sat bottom of the division one table, Jackson said confidence is still high at the club and they will be looking to get the second half of their season off to a strong start at second-placed Wivenhoe on Saturday.

The opening part of the season concluded with a three-wicket defeat at Elmstead last weekend, but Jackson felt it might have been a different result had an umpiring decision gone the way of his team rather than for the hosts.

He said: “It was another defeat and that’s disappointing, but it was against a quality side and we did take them very close.

“Had a decision gone our way and a couple of chances that came our way been taken, then I know we would have won.

“We were never out of it, so to take them as far as we did against a side who are top of the table is positive and we did it with seven members of our first-team squad missing.

“We felt we should have had 20 to 30 runs more than the 180 we got but we then restricted them and had them at 30 for four when a crucial decision went against us.

“I felt their batsman had snicked one behind off his first ball from me, but it wasn’t given.

“It would have been 30 for five and he went on to share a partnership of 60 to 70 that allowed them to go on and win.”

Jackson felt it was another example where his team had come out on the wrong side of an incident in a game and he is hoping that their fortunes can turn around in the second part of the season.

He added: “There are no games where we have been obliterated - it’s just that we have been coming out on the wrong side of things in games.

“We just need something more to take us over the line.

“We haven’t been smashed and we are confident that it will turn for us in the second half.

“We went to Elmstead with a weakened team and almost came away with a victory so that shows we’re not far away.

“We have 11 big games coming with a number of them at home as well.”

Braintree start the second half on the road, though, and although they are yet to win away from home, Jackson said they would travel to Wivenhoe with confidence.

He said: “We have beaten Wivenhoe already this season and there is no-one we fear in the league.

“We are confident that it will click for us.”

Jackson said he expected Warren Celiz, Gareth Fisher and Barry Stephens to return for the trip to Wivenhoe.

However, he thought Josh Newman, Rory Ainsley, Dean Bass and Ben Golds would all be missing and that would give younger members, like Matt Hollingsworth, who had impressed recently to get another chance to see senior action.