SIDMOUTH have opened up a 24-point lead at the top of the A Division after beating Bovey Tracey by eight wickets in the only game played on Saturday.
The weather gods couldn't have been much kinder to Sidmouth as second and third-placed team Plymouth and Tavistock were due to play each other, but didn't.
Sidmouth have to travel to Plymouth this Saturday for the first meeting between the sides, but go there knowing they will still be top whatever the outcome of the game.
Meanwhile, Plymouth will be under pressure not to lose as that could open the door for Tavistock to make inroads into the 24-point gap between second and third.
Sidmouth's match against Bovey was scaled down to 42 overs a side due to the bad weather – and for Bovey captain Chris Bradley it was a bad toss to lose as his team went in first on a wet wicket.
An early going over from Neil Hancock (5-29) and Scott Barlow (2-30) had Bovey reeling at 11 for five and they did well to scrape together 109 for eight from that position.
The Bovey fightback was led by Andy Fairbairn with a defiant half-century.
Lance Ames dropped anchor to make a stubborn nine in an hour at the crease with Fairbairn as Bovey got to 52 without further mishap.
Jamie Pooley (21) replaced Ames and batted sensibly with Fairbairn to get the score up to 94 for seven. Fairbairn was last man out for 51.
By the time Sidmouth went in to bat the pitch had eased significantly, which Bradley will have seen for himself as the home side eased to 53 without loss.
Pooley (2-37) nipped out Josh Bess for nine, but surviving opener Anthony Griffiths (61no) and Matt Cooke (14no) moved the score on to 84, which was about game over.
Hancock completed a miserable day for Bovey with a quickfire 21 not out to wrap up Sidmouth's eighth win in as many starts.
Bradninch have complained to league officials that the proper procedures weren't followed before their game at South Devon was cancelled and are claiming 20 points by default.
The Marsh Road ground in Newton Abbot was badly waterlogged on the morning of the match, so home club officials told Bradninch not to travel as the game was off.
However, Bradninch are entitled to travel and ask the umpires to determine whether the game should have gone ahead or not and it is that guideline South Devon might have broken.
League officials will decide tonight when they have an executive meeting in Exeter which, among other issues, will hear a complaint lodged by the umpires after Sidmouth's win over Paignton in the Devon KO Cup two weeks ago.
Paignton's Simon Edwards has been reported for using intimidating behaviour towards Sidmouth opener Anthony Griffiths. Paignton captain Justin Mann is also up before the bat-and-ball bench for failing to control the behaviour of his players.
Trouble flared during the game when Griffiths was given ‘not out' to a confident appeal for caught behind early in the game, which Sidmouth went on to win.