MATT Junk took a hat-trick to put Budleigh Salterton in a winning position against visiting Chudleigh.

Chudleigh were 108 for two before Matt Heather (37) was bowled by the Aussie spinner – and 108 for five three balls later.

Dan Britcliffe went first ball – caught behind by stand-in wicketkeeper Sam Richardson.

Richardson pulled on the gloves as Ben Phillips had a injury niggle and wanted to save himself for batting later.

Shaun Newland then went lbw as Junk made it three in a row.

Corey Sinclair kept going to make 47 off 61 balls and had been involved in stands worth 93 when Joel Murphy got him out.

Budleigh skipper Murphy’s lively medium pace had already accounted for opposite number Ed Foreman (25) and he knocked over Will Heather and Jack Beer late in the day to finish with four for 23.

Budleigh’s run chance was not a formality as Will Heather (2-34) had helped reduce them to 78 for four. Eliot Rice (24) had been and gone by then.

Trevor Anning (32) and Phillips made a 42-run dent in the deficit. Phillps went on to make 62 not out off 53 balls as Budleigh won with 16 overs to spare.

Winning captain Joel Murphy said it was a remarkable victory for a number of reasons – and an important one too.

“Sam Richardson isn’t a keeper but stepped in to do it even though he could barely move after rugby training midweek,” said Murphy.

“Ed Doble got hit on the head while fielding, which meant we had to have a sub and he batted down the order.

“Benny Phillips had a niggling groin, but batted like a man and if the ball was there to be hit he hit it – and hard.

“Then there was Matt Junk’s hat-trick on a flat pitch, which made a massive difference to what we were chasing.

“It was a game we had to win to stay in the running. Otherwise that was probably us done.”

Rival captain Foreman agreed the hat-trick was critical, but added Chudleigh didn’t help themselves.

“It was a very inconsistent performance from us,” said Foreman.

“We were batting very well but the hat-trick killed us and cost us 50-60 runs.

“We bowled a lot of rubbish and extras, which made what could have been a tricky chase a lot easier.

“Having said that Budleigh were good and look like promotion should be well within their reach this year.

“We need to perform a lot better this week to avoid a slip-up in a must win game for us against Ipplepen.”

Budleigh go into their game with Sandford just 11 points behind Lewdown in second place.