HELENSBURGH Cricket Club sustained another blow in the battle against the drop as they lost at Stenhousemuir.

They made their way along the M80 hoping to build on a fine victory over fourth-placed Cochran Dickie Kelburne, but against Stenhousemuir, who are third in the First Division, the task was a little tougher.

And coming home without so much as a losing bonus point means that the Burgh side face two big matches against Glasgow Accies and Weirs in their bid to beat the drop to the Second Division.

They made a promising start against Stenhousemuir as well, choosing to bowl first and restricting them to only eight runs before three of them were out.

But the home side’s overseas professional Rushdi Jappie began to turn the tide in Stenhousemuir’s favour, posting a fantastic 127 runs before he was finally out.

He in fact accounted for more than half of his team’s overall total of 214 runs which Helensburgh now had to try and match.

However, their batting never really got off the ground, with Brian Van Rooyen their top scorer on the day with 24 runs. The team’s total of 123 was only seven short of what was required for a losing bonus point.

Helensburgh now have two big Saturdays ahead, the first of which is at home to bottom team Glasgow Accies - a fixture which Burgh simply have to win, and win well. They were unable to play Accies away earlier this season due to rain.

Then it is off to to the south side of Glasgow to play Weirs, who are two places above them, in the final league fixture. It is still all to play for.