GLAMORGAN'S players enjoyed their ground fund-raising barbecue in Cardiff last night even more after making it four National League wins in a row.

They roasted rivals Essex by six wickets with 43 balls to spare to stay top of the table after a one-sided match at Sophia Gardens.

Seldom can one-day fixtures be described as boring, but this was as an Essex side without Test star Nasser Hussain offered precious little opposition.

On a good wicket, Andy Flower decided to bat on winning the toss and it was imperative he, Will Jefferson or Aftab Habib, scorer of 150+ in the first innings of the drawn county championship match, got runs.

But though all three made a start, Jefferson managed only thirty before he was late on his forward defensive stroke and was bowled by Gwent's David Harrison.

He hit four boundaries in his 33-ball stay and had already lost two partners when his dismissal left Essex at 48-3.

That left Flower and Habib, but the latter went to a superb if instinctive left hand caught and bowled by man-of-the-match Alex Wharf for 12 and when Flower was caught low at mid-wicket by Matthew Maynard off Darren Thomas for 25, that left Essex 73-5 and already effectively out of the game.

James Middlebrook (40 from 68 balls) and Ashley Cowan (31 from 75 balls) put on 71 in 23 overs to help them to 162-9.

But their partnership was slow and left their side at least sixty short of a challenging total.

Glamorgan quickly lost openers Robert Croft and Matthew Elliott in reply, the latter going to the first first ball he received, edging former England fast bowler Darren Gough as he tried to guide over slips a ball which bounced on him.

After scoring 272 runs without losing his wicket in the previous three National League games, it was a disappointment to Glamorgan fans.

And when Mike Powell went for 21 to leave the county 45-3, there may have been a few jitters.

But Wharf, who had taken 3-29 in the Essex innings, proved a patient pinch-hitter with 41 from 53-balls, with six boundaries crisply struck.

He and Maynard added 48 and when Wharf was bowled making room to try to hit spinner Danesh Kaneria through the off side, David Hemp joined Maynard to see Glamorgan home.

They needed to take few chances and both played supremely sensible innings, Maynard's unbeaten 45 coming from 76 balls and Hemp's 31 from 55, both hitting just two boundaries in an unbroken stand of 70.

David Harrison had come into the game in place of Adrian Dale, whose back spasm on Saturday makes him doubtful for this week's county championship game at Durham.

Harrison's younger brother Adam almost joined him, the Young England player acting as 12th man after being put on stand-by for Thomas, who has a slight shoulder complaint.

The county championship match had ended in a thrilling draw on Saturday when Essex, chasing 334 for victory, finished on 329-9. They had looked home and dry when Hussain's 102 and Flower's 66 took them to 215-2.

But both fell to Thomas during a fine bowling spell and thereafter wickets fell gradually and Essex were left to bat out the last 13 balls for a draw.

It was Glamorgan's fourth drawn championship game in four fixtures.

"I asked the players for consistency this season and at least we're being that," joked skipper Robert Croft afterwards.

"We've been close to winning a couple of nail-biters and there's confidence in the camp.

"We know that we are a hair's breath away from winning matches and in championship cricket, when you get on a bit of a roll, then you can soon be up at the top."