THE difference between Neil Johnson's second one-day century of the season and his first was that this time he finished on the winning side.

The Zimbabwean all-rounder was full of self-recrimination after his 113 at Durham in the C&G Trophy early in the season, blaming himself for scoring too slowly.

This time his unbeaten 105 was perfectly paced as Hampshire Hawks plucked the feckless Essex Eagles, an 85-run winning margin a pretty good shoeing by anyone's standards.

Hampshire could even afford to laugh off the "cheat" chants as they confirmed their place in the National League Divsision Two promotion mixer.

The Southend crowd vented their frustration at Johnson and Shaun Udal, although it was probably more frustration at their team which struggled to finish second in a one-horse race.

Johnson reacted sharply to pick up a knuckle-grazing catch at slip to account for James Foster.

After motioning to walk, Foster decided to stand his ground until square-leg umpire Barry Dudleston confirmed it had carried.

Johnson was then given the ball in his hand and his first delivery saw Richard Clinton carve to point where Shaun Udal dive to take the catch, only to juggle the ball as his elbow jarred on impact.

There seemed little complaint from Clinton who tucked his bat under his arm an trudged off, but the crowd weren't happy and as they levelled chants of "cheat, cheat" at Udal, they were treated to a withering stare or two by Robin Smith. Scary!

Udal had the last laugh when he effectively ended any Rizla-thin hopes Essex might have harboured of salvaging anything when Paul Grayson dollied a gentle return catch to him, having made Eagles' top score of 44.

Once again, Hamp-shire's bowlers responded to a challenge thrown down by their batters, although without the injured Stuart Law, Essex had as much spine as a jellyfish.

This Essex side isn't even a pale shadow of the fearsome, all-conquering side of the late 80s and early 90s, even without England skipper Nasser Hussein and Ausralian Law.

On a slow club pitch which didn't exactly help scoring, Hampshire's victory platform was a 113-run parntership between Johnson and Mascarenhas after early wobbles had reduced them to 26-2.

Johnson instantly assessed the pace of the pitch, and knew he would profit most by working the ball around, punching it into the gaps, although there was power and aggression on tap when he needed it.

Mascarenhas was quicker to his 50 but a risible mid-track lash-up saw him depart for a 69-ball 53, having partnered Johnson for 23 overs.

His dismissal applied the brakes, and when Grayson dismissed Lawrie Prittipaul and Will Kendall with successive deliveries, the innings could have stalled.

Johnson and Smith, though, picked up the tempo, with Johnson picking up Ashley Cowan's slower ball for a six that travelled so high and far you could have served a meal and watched a in-flight movie on it.

The pair put on 45 in the last five overs, with Smith run out off the last ball, partly through exhaustion at being pulled through for three successive twos which left him looking green around the gills.

The day belonged to Johnson, who faced 121 balls and added just seven fours to his six, an innings that was a little gem of pacing and patience.

He even darted in for two wickets, with James Hamblin the pick of the Hampshire bowlers, taking 3-33.

Essex Eagles 128 - Hampshire Hawks 213