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EXMOUTH showed signs of a fightback at North Devon where they gave their basement rivals a real run for their money.

   North Devon set Exmouth 220 to win and the target was down to 12 off the last over, which proved too many so the game ended drawn.

   Stuart Rhodes (83) and Mike Hedden (82) were North Devon's main run scorers in a tally of 219 for nine.

   After opener Rob Gear got out in the second over, Neil Bettis and Rhodes put up 101 for North Devon's second wicket.

   When Arul Suppiah (4-56) got Bettis out, Hedden came in and carved the ball about to make his 82 from just 55 deliveries.

   Rhodes faced 133 balls and hit 11 boundaries while Hedden was all action with four fours and plenty of running between the wickets.

   Exmouth started hesitantly – they were two for seven with Suppiah and Mike Paine both out – but pulled things round through Chris Travers (41).

   At 69 for four skipper Richard Baggs came out to join Burke and their stand of 130 took Exmouth to the brink of victory.

   Baggs was caught on the boundary for 82 and two overs from Burke was dismissed for 43.

   Seventeen to win from the final two overs was too many and Exmouth fell agonisingly short at 211 for eight.

   The only other Premier game to finish was at Plympton, where Exeter had the best of a draw.

   Exeter made 252 for four in their 50 overs, then had Plympton wobbling at 69 for five in reply.

   Alex Trevarthan (67) and Craig Miles (32) put on 97 to steady the ship, them Wasim Mohammed (19no) joined Miles to see Plympton to safety.

   It was anything but plain sailing for Plympton as conditions deteriorated the longer the game went on.

   Rain stopped play for 43 minutes during the Plympton innings, which finally finished at 8.37 in the gathering gloom.

   Exeter's total was built around an impressive opening stand of 191 between Marshall Hood (87) and Rob Holman (91) that occupied 42 of the 50 overs.

   Hood faced 106 balls while Holman ground his run out from 152 balls faced. Both fell to Andy Walter (2-24).

   Plympton captain Keith Donohue kept the run rate down while he was bowling as his 15 overs only cost 41 runs.

   Plympton suffered a setback they could have done without when opener Walter was caught behind to give Simon Bird the first of his three wickets.

   Dave Wrench (22) and Lewis Gregory (29) stabilised the situation for a while, then wickets tumbled to Jon Tipper (2-28) and Adam Gribble as Plympton slipped to 69 for five.

   Losing Dan Robotham second ball to Tipper was a big blow for Plympton.

   Saving the game rested on Trevarthan and the bottom half of the order and he didn't disappoint by hanging around for an hour and a half for his runs.

   Plympton had been hoping to gain ground on leaders Budleigh Salterton, or even regain the top spot that changed hands last week.

   That didn't happen, but as Budleigh's game against Sandford was rained off, Plympton's draw points moved them two points closer. Exeter are two points further back in third place.

   There was no result other than a lot of wet players at Paignton where the game against Sidmouth perished in the 44 th over.

   Sidmouth opener Anthony Griffiths got out third ball to Paignton paceman Kobus Pienaar.

   Pienaar struck again when Paignton were on 30 when he removed Josh Bess for 25.

   James Macey (11) and former Paignton skipper Neil Hancock (19) pushed the score along to 61 before Stephen George trapped his former team-mate lbw.

   Matt Cooke was spun out by James Hudson for duck, followed by Macey then Nick Gingell going in quick succession as Sidmouth dipped to 73 for six.

   The rot stopped there as Louis Talay (14no) arrived to join Trent Ovens (26no) and the pair pushed the score up to 128 without further loss before the rain came.

   Sandford bowled an over at Budleigh Salterton, who were two for one at the end of it with Ben Howgego out to Trevor Anning. A hail storm brought a terminal end to proceedings.

   Budleigh remain top of the table with Plympton six point behind in second place and Exeter two points further behind in third.

   Seven balls play was all that was possible at Torquay where Plymouth were the visitors for a brief and soggy encounter.

   In the seven balls bowled, Plymouth picked up the wicket of Torquay opener Jonathan Rice without conceding a run. And that's how it ended.