Downham have decided not to apply for promotion to the East Anglian Premier League after retaining their Norfolk Alliance title.

A winning draw against Old Buckenham was enough for Downham to clinch top spot with a week to spare.

The club are now entitled to go up into the EAPL but will instead stay in the Alliance and attempt a title hat-trick.

"We have to get a first team squad that wants to play in it," captain Duncan Lanchester told BBC Radio Norfolk.

The amount of extra travelling involved in playing East Anglian Premier League cricket and the fact it will be a longer season are the reasons behind Downham's decision to stay down.

"I know one or two people sneer at the fact that we're not going up," added Lanchester. "But it's something that doesn't suit our club at the moment.

"We have five or six players who definitely don't want to play in it. Also, we only get our field for 18 weeks and it would mean be a 22-week season."

The result was also enough to condemn Old Buckenham to relegation into Alliance Division One. And either Norwich and Coltishall Wanderers or Topcroft, who hold a 13-point advantage going into the season's final weekend, will also go down.