CORNWOOD are the last unbeaten team left in the A Division following a two-wicket win in the top-of-the-table clash with Paignton.
Paignton arrived at Oak Park two points behind the leaders and fresh from beating early frontrunners Torquay.
Unsurprisingly it was a close-run affair with Paignton making 196 for nine and Cornwood knocking off the target with eight balls to spare.
Cornwood now have a 10-point lead over second-placed Torquay, who bounced back from their setback against Paignton with a seven-wicket win at Chudleigh.
Paignton drop down to third, but with only 13 points between the top three it remains a close contest.
Paignton opener Noah Wright (59) and Kevin Renecke (61) got Paignton up and running with a second-wicket partnership worth 98.
Renecke was finally fifth man out at 161, the first of two scalps for Cornwood skipper Matt Skeemer.
Josh Goodliffe (3-33) slowed Paignton in the latter stages as wickets fell in the quest for late runs.
Skeemer was have been delighted with the overall bowling effort – Adam Goodliffe and Elliott Staddon were both super frugal – that kept Paignton below 200.
“The bowlers did really well to stick with it and once we had broken their main partnerships we did not let them build another,” said Skeemer.
Cornwood seemed well on course for victory at 164 for four thanks to contributions from Owen Gannon (33), Ryan Rickard (21), Skeemer and Matt Butterworth. What wickets fell went mostly to Dan Wolf (3-31).
Butterworth’s departure to left-armer Cole Harford for 22 signalled the start of a slump that saw Skeemer (44), Craig Harris (13) and Adam Goodliffe (0) fall in quick succession. Harford (4-46) did most of the damage, but not all.
Cornwood skipper Skeemer took a direct hit in the box from Paignton fast bowler George Benton, that left him doubled up in pain for several minutes.
“When George Benton hits you there you need a bit of time to recover,” said Skeemer, whose box broke in two under the impact.
Cornwood were in a shaky spot at 185 for eight, but Shahzaz Ahmed and Matt Tamsett got them over the line.
Richard Ashworth, the Paignton captain, needed some convincing that the right team won the game.
“It was a game we definitely should have won, but still lots of positives to take into this Saturday,” said Ashworth.
“The time added on for the injury and multiple stoppages didn't add up which mean we had to rush at the end.
“It's never great when their top scorer is wides on 45 and that's something we need to get right.
“Had we bowled half as many we would have won the game.
“Apart from that the bowling effort was good. I didn't feel like we got much luck with the ball and dropped too many chances.”
On Paignton’s batting effort, Ashworth said: “We probably should have scored another 20 runs but kept losing wickets regularly in the second half.
“Noah (Wright) and Kev (Renecke) batted really well to get us in a strong position (108-2) but we couldn't capitalise.”
OPENER David Ackford just missed out on a century in Plympton’s six-wicket win in the derby clash with Ivybridge.
Ivybridge recovered from a patchy start – Jacob Caunter (2-25) had then 16 for two – to make 238 for eight.
Kelvin Trent dug in for 22 and by the time he was fourth out on 116 Charles Kunje had banked 61 off 53 balls and Harry Solomon was on the way to 45.
Adam Huxtable chipped in with 38 and was involved in stands that added 84 for the last three wickets to fall.
David Wrench (3-66) had three pricy wickets on his return to the team.
Ackford batted on and on and on for an unbeaten 99 as Plympton chased down the target with two overs to spare.
There were stands of 54 with Andy Walter (29), 63 with Christian Bunny (19), 61 with James Degg (28) and 47 unbroken to finish with Jack Horton (31no).
No one took more than one wicket for Ivybridge. James Bullock (1-32 off 10) was the most economical of the cohort.
The result leaves Plympton fourth from top and Ivybridge third from bottom.
Winning captain Craig Donohue said the batting display made up for a patchy performance with the ball.
“We bowled too many four balls and didn't field as well as we can,” said Donohue.
“We batted sensibly and were clinical with David Ackford batting through for a fantastic 99 not out.
“All the batters chipped in and only losing four wickets was great to see.”
Harry Solomon, the Ivybridge skipper, said it was disappointing to lose a close game.
He added: “It was good to see our batting looking a bit better, but we still need to do the basics right with the ball.”
