PAIGNTON’S Jason Woodcock has done a lot in more than 30 years playing Devon League cricket – but nothing comes close to the game he had against Barton 2nd XI.
Woodcock stroked 105 in a hefty Paignton total of 264 for five. He opened up by putting on 56 with Steve George (36) and followed-up with a stand of 151 with Archie Farkins (63).
Woodcock still had the strength left to bowl some off-spin – and is five wickets for 14 runs sent Barton careering to a 219 all out and a 44-run defeat.
Before Woodcock was deployed in the attack, Barton were 197 for five. Jack Bell went first and four more followed in a hurry.
Earlier, Bell (63), Jamie Peters (34), Tom Porter (39) and Adrian Lipton (28) had batted Barton into contention.
SOUTH Devon slumped to a second successive defeat whey they went down by six-wickets at Whitchurch.
Four defeats in the last five outings – Plymouth Civil Service & Roborough were the exceptions – have all but ended South Devon’s realistic hopes of promotion from the D Division West.
A change of form and fortunes is needed at Kenn this Saturday to avoid sliding any closer to the drop spots.
Josh Vernon went through most of the South Devon top six collecting his five wickets for 31 runs. Josh Towl (3-35) mopped up the lower order. South Devon were 128 all out.
Kiwi Allan Kerr (19) had the best of a modest set of South Devon scores. There were more extras (21) than any individual score in the final total.
Opener Towl (43) got the chase going, then Mark Gibbs (44no) finished it off with more than 15 overs to go..
Skipper James Allen (2-23) was the pick of South Devon’s bowlers.
STOKE Gabriel remain 12 points clear of Plymouth at the top of the table thanks to a 110-run win over Kenn.
Nick Gwynne clubbed 140 not out for Stoke in their total of 255 for eight.
Gwynne went in after Ian Coulton and Jack Tolley went cheaply and batted on and on.
Along the way there were stands of 59 with George Yates (14) and 66 with Andrew Nicolopoulos (14).
Hamish Robertson (3-41) was Yelverton’s leading bowler.
Geoff Brain and Giles Beauchamp made a brace of 32s as Yelverton were dismissed for 145.
There were three wickets each for George Yates, man of the match Gwynne and Kyle Lardner.
The turning point in the game was the spell when Yelverton slumped from 88 for two to 91 for five then 116 for seven. Game over.
Plymouth Civil Service & Roborough won for the second round running when they beat Torquay 2nd XI by 41 runs.
From a season’s low of a 302-run defeat at South Devon and having to pull their second team out of the league due to a shortage of players, Civil are fighting back.
Stuart Dent (75), Nick Read (53no) and Ben Shepherd (34no) were the main run getters in a total of 271 for six.
Torquay were 230 for eight when the overs ran out. Ben Passenger made 56 and Matt McCann 43. Paul Lee (4-23) and Dan Winsor (2-53) were Civil’s most effective bowlers.
Torquay have dropped behind Whitchurch into the bottom three.
PLYMOUTH 2nd XI thrashed Kenn by 153 runs to stay right behind Stoke Gabriel at the top of the D Division West table.
Richard Goldsby-West (81) and Jeff Martin (73) were the main run getters in Plymouth’s 298 for eight. Rob Bennett and Tom Hughes chipped in 30s.
Kenn were all out for 145, James Gosling out for 50. John Kerridge (3-52) was the only Plymouth bowler with more than two wickets.
Plymouth are 12 points behind Stoke Gabriel in a division with three promotion places, the lowest of which Yelverton are clinging on to despite back-to-back defeats by Plymouth and now Stoke.
