A one-wicket defeat at Hatherleigh has left Sandford bumping along the bottom of the Premier Division.
Victory has lifted Hatherleigh three places and 13 points clear of the relegation spots.
Sandford were all out for 219 in the last of their overs Faisal Iqbal making 75 and Adrian Small 45 on the day son Adam made his debut in the side.
It looked like job done for Hatherleigh at 216 for five with Ryan Davies (65) and Rob Cockwill (26) still together after adding 52 runs.
Then Hatherleigh wobbled. Four wickets fell for two runs added and it was left to last man Sean Letheren to smash Iqbal for four to win it with a ball to spare.
Winning captain Mark Lake said: “It was a game we should haev won easily but in the end we nearly messed up.
“It turned out to be a great win for us as we pulled it back really well with the ball to only be chasing 220. “We chased really well until the last couple. Ryan Davies played a brilliant innings - it was a match-winner - with contributions from others.”
Iqbal and Adrian Small (45) put on exactly 70 for Sandford’s third wicket, but there was no real kick-on from the middle order.
Best of the rest was Jim Shepherd’s 15 off 13 balls going in at 181 for six.
Hatherleigh shared the business of wicket taking round with two each going to Letheren, Dan Fogerty, Imran Philander and Mark Lake. Iqbal and Matt Theedom were run-out.
Hatherleigh appeared in total control on the chase, despite interruptions to their progress from Chris Simpson (3-26), who took the first three wickets to fall.
Danny Forrester (32), Zipo Zondo (22) and Charlie Nielson (37) all chipped off bits of the target.
Just when it seemed in the bag, Cockwell went lbw, Davies and Phillander ran themselves out, Fogerty was bowled first ball by Iqbal.
Letheren took one ball to play himself in and belted the next one to the boundary.
It does not get much closer than that, not that Sandford skipper Richard Foan was hugely consoled.
“Once again we were probably 40 runs short of where we should have been,” said Foan.
“Unfortunately, it is costing us at the moment. Every game has gone to the last five overs and it shows we are not far away from getting over the line.”
