Heath have had the upper hand ever since Littlehampton were relegated from the Premier Division in 2005. They are now unbeaten in their last six meetings with Littlehampton, and have won the last four.

Heath even prevented Littlehampton from promotion back into the Premier Division in the final game of last season, and, on Saturday, completed the league double with a thumping 101-run win.

In their first meeting of the season, Heath won by 54 runs after smashing 279-5 at The Sportsfield.

Despite the defeat, Littlehampton remain fourth in the table and are just 24 points off second-placed Bexhill, with a game in hand.

Skipper Benn Challen is now targeting five wins from their remaining seven games to secure a promotion spot. He said: "We probably need to win five now, but we have to start winning sooner rather than later.

"We still have to play Lewes Priory, Roffey and Bexhill, who are all above us, so we probably need to win all of them. But if we lose to all three, it's all over.

"We've just got to take one game at a time. If we win on Saturday at Roffey then things will look much better. If we lose, then things will be pretty difficult."

On Saturday's defeat, Challen said: "We just didn't bat very well. Their total was a decent one to be chasing but not all of our players had the right attitude.

"We drew our first game of the season, but since then we've either won or lost. It seems we're pretty much all or nothing. We just need to bat more sensibly."

Adam Tester took his second six-wicket haul of the season. After his six for 36. against leaders Lewes Priory earlier in the season, he grabbed six for 48 on Saturday, with three wickets clean bowled.

Paceman Luke Vinter and off-spinner Challen each took two wickets as Heath made 225, of which Steve Kingcome struck 82.

Only three Littlehampton players then made double figures. Chris Heberlein, for the second time in three games, top-scored with 44. Challen added 17 and opener Chris Kirkham hit 13.

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