CAPTAIN Dougie Brown refused the push the panic button after Barnt Green suffered their first defeat in six weeks when they went down to Shrewsbury by seven wickets in the Birmingham and District League Premier Division on Saturday.

Despite a finely-crafted century by James Ord, who was a constant throughout the Cherry Hill Road outfit’s innings, Brown’s troops were second best on the day.

Defeat saw them slip one place to fifth in the table and leave them 32 points behind leaders Walsall.

However, as the season nears the half way point, he believes they will be in a position to push in the business end of the campaign.

He said: “Shrewsbury were the better side on the day, we’ve got to take our hats off to them,” commented Brown.

“The wicket was a bit damp but we were happy enough with the total we reached and with Stephen Bevan playing really well were confident we could get wickets.

“Unfortunately, Stephen didn’t play quite as well as he had been and Shrewsbury played very well. They hit balls into different areas and made it difficult for us.

“At the end of the day, it was always going to be very difficult to go through the season without losing games so this is just a blip.

“Our plan was to go into the second part of the season with a chance and with two games to go we look on track to do that, it’s not how you start it’s how you finish the season.”

Opener Ord continued his excellent form despite none of his team mates being able to forge a partnership with him, as the home team lost wickets at regular intervals.

He struck his highest score yet with 114 not out, making it 302 runs in seven games at an average of 50.33.

However, apart from Tom Burton (27), Brown (17) and Nicholas Powell (15no), Green were kept to 187-7.

Green’s opponents then made light work of the total, making 190-3 with Alex Blofield (77), Ed Foster (43) and Edward Barnard (41no) getting amongst the runs, while Bevan took 2-58.

Green will be hoping to respond on Saturday in the league when they go to improving Himley (noon start). The Black Country outfit have been boosted by the impact of gifted Indian all-rounder Rajat Bhatia, who debuted with 80 in the win at Brockhampton.

“Himley are a very good side and they now have a very good overseas player so it’s going to be a test,” commented Brown.

“But we’ve got quality players who can win a match on their own and it’s going to be an excellent match.”