THORVERTON put their selection problems to one side to win by 29 runs at Plymstock.

Skipper Dave Baldock was substantially light in the batting department so a total of 191 for nine was a bonus.

Bowling Plymstock out for 162 was the icing on the cake for Thorverton as winning lifted them out of the bottom two.

There is still a real scrap going on with Braunton, South Devon and Shobrooke to avoid going down with seemingly doomed Dartington & Totnes, but Thors are moving in he right direction.

As for Plymstock, the have now lost three on the trot and have dropped down from unbeaten leaders to joint third.

“It was an unbelievable win for us against a side that has been top of the table all season,” said Baldock.

“We had five of usual top-six batters unavailable.

“Asked to bat first the openers gave us a good start and everyone else chipped in to get us to a competitive score.

“The bowlers were superb as the pitch deteriorated.

“Had a few false shots gone to hand early on, we could have won by more.”

Jake Crouch (40) top scored for Thorverton, building on the foundations laid by openers John Farley (27) and Alan Tait (27) then South African Adriane Morrison (30).

James Nicholls (3-47) and Seb Jordon (3-36) stopped Thors batsmen running away with the game, as did Ian Whalley (2-28) and Bronte Bess (1-25) in mean nine-over spells.

Rory Coltham (26) and Jack Horton (45) got Plymstock going in reply, but the game hinged on a middle-order cave-in sparked by Jake Crouch (4-46) that left Nicholls too much to do and not enough partners to do it with.

Thoverton have a basement battle with Braunton at Station Road this Saturday.

Losing captain Scott Mansfield isn’t about to panic despite a third successive defeat.

Mansfield was only looking at the plus points after the defeat, which he felt were plentiful.

“It was a big improvement from the previous two weeks, but we just failed to finish off Thorverton from a good position,” said Mansfield.

“Half way through it looked as if a chase of 250-plus was possible, but our bowlers turned things around to restrict Thorverton to 191 for nine.

“At 95 for three after 16 overs things looked good, but a flurry of wickets left us on 116 for six. Although with plenty of batting left.  

“James Nicholls held the middle order together, but was last man out lbw with 30 runs still required.

“Even with three defeats we still have it all to play for.

“Ivybridge now find themselves clear leaders with a good points gap over the chasing pack, but a good few weeks from us and we can hopefully start putting pressure back on them.”