Lowestoft Town gave their hopes of avoiding the drop in Division One of the Norfolk Alliance a timely boost on Saturday when they picked up only their third win of the season on Saturday.

They moved off the foot of the table as they beat Thetford by four wickets at Mundford Road.

As a result Lowestoft are now 39 points behind third from bottom Norwich A with six games left to play, starting with tomorrow's crucial clash against mid-table Vauxhall Mallards A at the Denes Oval (1pm start).

Thetford were looking to consolidate their mid-table position against a side who started the day at the foot of the table.

But that's not the way it turned out, with the home side being dismissed for 176 and then going on to lose by four wickets.

After losing the toss and being asked to bat first Thetford were unable to build a big total against a disciplined attack, with Liam Conroy's 41 the only score above 20 as the hosts were dismissed in the 47th over.

The star for Lowestoft was Craig Guy, who returned the outstanding figures of 10-4-12-3.

The visitors made a solid start in reply as Adam Savoury (30) and Nathan Garrod (23) put on 57 for the first wicket.

With a good foundation in place the visitors then went on to win with some comfort, knocking off the runs required with over eight overs to spare, with a quick-fire unbeaten 54 from Elliott George that included five fours and two sixes seeing them over the line.

The match of the day in the top flight was a surprisingly one-sided affair, with morning leaders Old Buckenham being brushed aside by title rivals Downham.

The Bucks were skittled out for just 99 in the 36th over, with Harrison Gregory leading the way with figures of 3-25 and Jack Gould, Peter Cairns and Joss Stuart each weighing in with a couple of wickets.

It was a completely different story when the hosts came out to bat, with openers Ian Harrison (58 not out) and Alex Stuart (31 not out) seeing their side home with the minimum of fuss.

A second successive defeat for Old Buckenham opened the way for second-placed Cromer to take over at the top and they duly took it by seeing off Fakenham by 60 runs.

The win kept Cromer a point ahead of Downham at the top - while Fakenham dropped into the relegation places as a result.