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A DIVISION – JUNE 9

IT'S fast becoming a two-horse race at the top of the A Division with Plymouth at the front of it following their 91-run win over visiting Bovey Tracey.

   Sidmouth are hard on the heels of Plymouth after their 119-run win over Bradninch. Then there is a wide gap of 25 points down to Tavistock in third place.

   Sidmouth rattled along to 250 for seven in their 50 overs with early runs from Neil Hancock (23) and Josh Bess (47), followed by later ones from Matt Cook and Jack Pyne.

   Cook, who came in at 124 for five, hit a handy 47 and batted through with Pyne (37) and skipper Will Murray to post a defendable total.

   Bradninch were seen off by a second six-wicket haul of the season by Mark Jasper which helped skittled them out for 131.

   Ryan Butterworth top scored on 60 for Bradninch, but when he was seventh out at 114 the end wasn't far away.

   Jasper (6-44) and Hancock (2-44) completed the rout with the minimum of fuss.

   Down at Peverell Park, Bovey Tracey had Plymouth reeling at 53 for five after an early going over from Ryan Bougard (4-38) and Charlie Carter (2-41).

   Bougard picked up Hansantha Fernando, Chris Barr and Dave Burke in his opening salvo, which left Luke Minett to save the day with a long knock of 43 that kept the Bovey bowlers at bay.

   Minnet and Ryan Chitty started the comeback by putting on 38, then Paul Thompson (37) gave Minnet a helping hand adding another 41 for the eighth wicket.

   Bovey in reply crashed to 82 all out having had an even earlier batting collapse than Plymouth that spelled disaster.

   Fernando and Burke sent Bovey nosediving to 29 for four, at which point Chris Bradley and Andy Fairbairn came together and fashioned a stand of 36 that slowed Plymouth down for a while.

   A double strike by Burke – Fairbairn for 15, then Lance Ames – put the skids under Bovey Tracey in a terminal manner.

   Five wickets fell in 11 balls to either Burke, who finished with six for 45, or Fernando (4-32) as Bovey tumbled to 82 all out in the 24th over.

   Shobrooke lost for the third week running as Tavistock raced to a quickfire victory by five wickets as they knocked off 218 to win.

   Shobrooke captain Andy Codling helped himself to a top score of 54 and put on 49 with Tom O'Keefe in Shobrook's total of 217 all out.

   The only other stand of note was an opening one of 56 for the first wicket between Rob Newall (34) and Jon James, whose contribution was just four!

   The rest of the runs came in extras – Tavvy gifted Shobrooke 41 runs one way or another – which was a recurring feature of the game.

   Spinner Stuart Cleave (3-48) was the pick of the Tavvy bowlers. Sharp fielding accounted for three run outs as well.

   Brynlee Barros with 45 not out steered Tavistock to victory after Steve Nicholson (28) and Steve Luffman (34) got the chase up and running.

   Shobrooke's collection of extras left Tavvy's tally in the shade though as they gave way 73, of which 50 were wides.

   John Sweeney pitched enough balls wicket to wicket to claim Shobrooke's best bowling return of three for 34.

   The only way is up from here on in for South Devon after they hit rock bottom in the A Division following a nine-wicket defeat away to arch rivals Abbotskerswell.

   The man of the match for Abbots with a winning performance with bat and ball was Carl Mitchell, who followed up a five-for-29 bowling haul with an unbeaten 73 on the chase.

   South Devon struggled for runs all the way through with Matt Blackmore (24) and Dave Knowles the only scorers of note.

   Mitchell's bowling effort was backed up by Hayden Crocker, who claimed three for 34.

   At one stage it seemed like Abbots were going to win by 10 wickets, until Mitchell ran-out Alun Lewis (34) following a mid-wicket mix-up.

   Former South Devon batsman Danny Full (36no) joined Mitchell to rattled off the last 60 runs needed to win the game.

   South Devon's only consolation is that fellow strugglers Bovey Tracey lost as well and are only five points ahead of them in the second relegation slot.

   Abbots though have gone 10 points clear of the drop zone and 15 ahead of South Devon. As Bovey entertain Abbots this Saturday though, the picture could change dramatically.

   Cornwood's batsmen kept their nerve as the run chase to a three-wicket win at Braunton went right down to the wire.

   The Corns won with four balls to spare and were glad of sizeable knocks from Jason Hall (62) and Mohammad Salman (54) for getting them there.

   Martyn Cooksley, Kevin Wilcock and Jimmy Horgan all chipped in with scores in the 20s. Chris Harris and Ben Warren were the not out batsmen at the end.

   Earlier, Braunton's Andrew Paddison continued his fine run of form with the bat as he top scored with 80 in the North Devon side's 237 for seven. Skipper Mark Lathwell (54) chipped in with yet another half century.

   Ian Roberts added a useful 28 before Braunton's overs ran out.

   Pakistani A star Salman was quick to share the credit around for the win despite his own impressive contribution.

   “I have played here for three years now and in all that time it is the best game I have played in and one of Cornwood's best performances.

   “It was a big total to chase on a turning wicket and all the batsmen had a job to do getting the runs and did it.”