There was double disappointment for Sandwich Town as they were beaten by Kent League Premier Division basement boys Holmesdale.

A rain-affected away game saw Town lose by 121 runs on Saturday. To make matters worse, they were dealt an injury blow to Tom Chapman.

Sandwich face Minster this Saturday but skipper Jan Gray confirmed: “It’s a shame Tom Chapman will not be available to play.

“He dislocated his finger on Saturday, which was horrible for him.

“It’s one of the things you definitely don’t want to see in amateur sport - people paying their match fees and ending up getting hurt.”

But Gray did highlight the work of a home player - batting at the time - who swiftly attended to Chapman.

“We get on really well with Holmesdale,” Gray noted.

“One of their players is a nurse and was batting at the time, and immediately took the steps to bandage up Tom and say everything he needed to say at the hospital.

“He was really quick and I think we were all taken aback by how quickly he responded. In so many ways, it was really helpful.

“It probably helped ensure Tom didn’t damage his finger more.”

Zack Fagg took 3-45 for Sandwich as Holmesdale made 258-7 in 40 overs.

But Sandwich were 137 all out in reply, despite Tom Burnap’s 45 and another contribution by Ryan Davies (38).

Gray reflected: “I guess we were pretty soundly beaten in the end. I think we let them get 20 too many and we were 29-4.

“Even though Ryan and Tom batted well, it would have taken something pretty remarkable to win it from there.

“We could have sort of capitulated but it’s good we didn’t collapse in that way.”

Sandwich’s last two defeats have seen them collect nine losing bonus points in total, although St Lawrence & Highland Court’s defeat to leaders Bexley at the weekend - in a higher-scoring encounter - saw them collect seven losing bonus points.

Gray said: “I don’t know what the right answer to it is. It’s not unfair but it does reward pitches where scores are higher.

“You can almost always take wickets - when teams smack it at the end, they sometimes get out through ambition. But at places like Bexley, for example, the batting points are much harder to come by.

“I looked at the table. We’re behind two teams [Minster and Hayes] who have won less games than us but had more bonus points.

“It’s not unfair but it is a strange quirk.”

Next up for seventh-placed Sandwich are 2022 runners-up, Minster, who are fifth and have also suffered back-to-back defeats.

Gray said: “If you look at their team, I think they will think they should probably be in the top two teams in the league.

“So they’re not in the position they would like to be.

“But we know their players are very good and it’s always a challenge against them.”

The 2nds lost at home to second-placed Division 3 side Staplehurst 1sts.

Craig Snell (3-22) was the pick of the bowlers in Staplehurst’s total of 234-6 before Sandwich were limited to 199-9, despite contributions by William Curwen (38), Oliver Nedderman (36) and wicketkeeper Matthew Philpott (35).