PLYMSTOCK slipped seven points behind new leaders Ivybridge into second place in the wake of a six wicket defeat at Shobrooke Park.

Having gone 10 games undefeated, Plymstrock have  now lost back-to-back games against Tavistock and now Shobrooke.

Plymstock made a respectable 252 all out in the 44^th of their 45 overs.

Openers Jason Williams (60) and Seb Jordan (33) put on 93 in almost even time then skipper Scott Mansfield held the middle order together with a fluid 60 off 52 balls.

Mansfield was sixth out at 218 having featured in stands worth 115, the best being one of 42 with James Nicholls (18).

Tom Youngman (3-42) pipped Ben Trenaman (3-51) for the Shobrooke bowling honours.

Shobrooke Park  lost opener Chris Ford on 32 – Nicholls snaring him lbw – and Jon James on 97.

Skipper Chris Simpson was well dug in by then on 40 and batted through for an unbeaten 111 as Shobrooke won at a gallop.

The key stand for Shobrooke was one of 106 for the fourth wicket between the skipper and Dan Robbins (43).

Phil Anning joined Simpson to knock off the final 39 needed to win.

Defeats by Tavistock and  now Shobrooke have cost plymstock the leadership, although if they prove a kick up the arse for the players skipper Mansfield won’t mind.

“We seem at the moment to be expecting to win instead of putting the hard yards in to make things happen,” said Mansfield.

“Things need to change, otherwise we will quickly see any hopes of promotion fade quickly.  

So far this season the bowlers have pulled us out of some tight situations, just lately we've come up against two of the top batsman in the division (Ian Gray and Chris Simpson) and they've taken the game away from us.  

“What we've lacked is someone to repeat what those guys have done to us, we continue to have batsman get in and out without knuckling to make sure we make the most of the situations we have found ourselves in a number of times this year.

“We have talked about what we must improve on and we must change things very quickly with the improved Thorverton on Saturday.”

DAVE Manning hit Tavistock to a two-wicket win in the last over of the game at Ottery St Mary.

Ottery made 246 for seven in 45 overs – George Biggs leading the way with 78 – then set about defending it.

Tavvy started the the last over from Ottery skipper Rob Crabb on 231 for eight – which meant they needed 16 to win.

Manning took care of it by smashing Crabb for six, four, four and six to take his tally to 125 all out.

Manning had gone in at 48 for two and put on 80 with Tim Pope (47) and 56 with James White.

Will Harrison (3-44) and Billy Rudolph (2-65) picked up wickets in the last 10 overs, but Manning eluded them and that proved Ottery’s downfall.

SOUTH Devon are out of the bottom three in the B Division after defeating Dartington & Totnes by 10 runs in the basement battle at Marsh Road.

South Devon were boosted by the return of former captain Henry Burningham for his first league game of the season – and he top scored with 65 in a total of 255 all out.

Divan Marais made 62 – he and James Allen (18) put on 74 – and there were handy stands involving Burningham with Mike Smith (20) and skipper Jon Martin (20).

Newcomer Gareth Harris then took four for 52 to help bowl D&T out for 245 in the last over.

It was a bit close for comfort at times – a second-wicket stand of 99 between Jono Colegate (70) and Ed Verrall (55) had South Devon worried – but thanks to Harris and James Allen (2-32) D&T didn’t make it.

The last serious threat came from Chris Cook (28), who was one of batters dealt with by Harris.

Victory lifts South Devon one point clear of the drop zone – a step in the right direction but not a lot else.

Martin said he got what he expected – a tough game - and the win he had hoped for.

“We worked hard to come out on top, making steady progress with partnerships all the way,” said Martin.

“Dartington’s top order batted superbly, even though we didn't bowl well.

“We dragged it back and once the second-wicket partnership was broken we to regular scalps to restrict them to less than our total.

“The one down point on the day is that others around us won also but it keeps us in touch.”

Darts are now 32 points adrift at the bottom and need a minor miracle to avoid a prompt return to the C Division West.

South Devon go to Tavistock this Saturday, boasting a recent record of four wins in five starts. Darts have a South Hams derby date with new leaders Ivybridge.

BIDEFORD captain Paul Heard offered a simple explanation for his side’s six-wicket defeat by relegation worriers Thorverton.

“We just weren't good enough, as simple as that,” said Heard.

“Thorverton bowled extremely well first up and our top five were at the unfortunate end.

“Fred King was the only batsman to knuckle down and his run-out summed up our day.

“Josh Atkinson and Fred King took some wickets to save us from complete embarrassment but we really have to string some good performances together.”

Bideford are in danger of fading in the promotion race as they are now 12 points behind leaders Ivybridge.

The saving grace for Bideford is the teams above them – Plymstock and Ottery – are losing too.

The form book would have hinted at a Bideford win, but that looked unlikely after they were hustled out for 105 in just 25 overs.

Thorverton had a mini-wobble on the chase as 48 for one became 54 for four as Josh Atkinson (3-30) got among them, but an unbroken stand of 55 between skipper Dave Baldock and Adriane Morrison banished any fears of a defeat.

Bideford’s early order was shot away by Thors left-armer Gill Crouch, who took four of the wickets to fall in a running total of 38 for five.

Fred King (15), Jamie Lathwell (14) and overseas Ji Eccles (14) hung around for a while, but Jamie Stirling (2-18) got into the bottom half of the order before Crouch (5-36) came back to finish Bideford off.

Paul Fielder (28) was the man in form at the top of the order for Thorverton and third out at 48.

Morrison (31no) and Baldock (22no) needed just seven overs to complete the run chase.

Thors play second-placed Plymstock this Saturday before fixtures take a turn for the better.

“We are in a run of games against all the top four – Ottery, Ivybridge, Bidford and Plymstock – before we get to teams in mid-table and below,” said Baldock.

“We only just lost by two runs to Ivybridge, we made Ottery work for a win over us so I can’t say I am surprised we won at Bideford as we have been playing well.

“Our bowling performance was superb against Bideford, They snicked a few early on, we caught everything and it couldn’t have worked out much better.

“The standard has been set in the last two weeks and the mood is positive for the remainder of the year.”