WHAT a finish! Thorverton and Barton slugged it out to the bitter end in a game that finished in a tie.
Thorverton made 208 for nine in their 45 overs – and so did table-topping Barton!
Barton are still top of the table, but their lead over second-placed Seaton has been trimmed to 10 points.
The smart money was on a Barton win when they reached the final over from Jack Stirling needing three to win and with the vastly experienced John Martin and Matt Lipton 30 runs into a partnership.
Martin took a run, so did Lipton (20no, then Jack Stirling bowled Martin (20) to leave one to win from the final ball to last man Stuart Bowker. It was a dot.
Opener Pitt top scored for Thorverton with 53 – he and Will Denford (48) put on 84 at the top – and there were chip-ins from debutant Calem Curreen (20) and Nick Barton.
Barton’s Morgan Harford (4-51) took the wickets after Thors found run scoring hard against Matt Crampton (1-33) and Bowker (1-34).
Crampton (50) and Adam Parker (75) appeared to have wrapped it up for Barton by 174 for eight. The chase was taken on by Lipton and Martin to set up the nerve-jangling finale.
Their lead at the top may have been trimmed, but Barton skipper Adam Parker was largely upbeat after the match.
“It was still a positive result but one which we feel we should have won after fighting back from losing early wickets,” said Parker.
“We may have dropped a few points, and the chasing pack has crept up, but I am confident we can continue the unbeaten run against Plymstock this Saturday.”
TAVISTOCK kept the pressure on Barton and Seaton at the top of the B Division by winning at Plymstock.
But it was a close-run thing for the Moorlanders, who flopped over the line with their last pair at the wicket chasing a relatively modest 57 to win.
Victory keeps Tavistock four points behind second-placed Seaton and closed the gap on leaders Barton, who tied with Thorverton.
Plymstock were all out for 156 in the 41stof their 45 overs – former skipper Scott Mansfield top scoring on 41.
Opener and captain Charles Martin (20) was third out at 41 having just been joined by Mansfield.
Mansfield’s stand of 57 with Josh Hocken (20) was as good as it got for Plymstock, although Mike Blackmore chipped in with 18 down the order.
The spinners cleaned up for Tavistock with Sean Cleave taking three for 35 and captain Shaun Daymond (4-32) going one better.
Tavistock were glad of Billy Barriball’s anchorman knock of 60 for keeping them in the hunt while wickets were falling at the other end.
Barriball went in after opener James White was dismissed in the first over by Rob Cunningham and settled in for the duration.
By the time the returning Cunningham got Billy Barriball out, Tavistock were 136 for seven. A key element getting that far was a stand of 53 with Charlie Barriball (32) for the fifth wicket.
Cunningham took three more wickets on his way to figures of five for 33 that had Tavistock rocking at 151 for nine.
Last pair James McGahey an David Milligan nurdled the last few runs.
“We just got there,” said Tavvy skipper Daymond.
“We felt Plymstock’s total was competitive on that wicket, but we made it.”
FILLEIGH won for the first time in four starts when they beat B Division bottom side Babbacombe by two wickets at Deer Park.
Babbacombe, now 44 points adrift at the bottom and seemingly destined for the drop, were all out for 144 in the 41stof their 45 overs.
Steve Lewis opened with 32, Mike Pugh got 20 in the middle and skipper Steve Broad hit 27 going in at 98 for five.
John Hickman (3-20) had wickets when there was still some shine on the ball and Justin Saker (4-27) ran through the bottom half as Babbacombe lost their last four men for 10 runs.
Knocking off the runs seemed inevitable as Filleigh reached 72 for two with Saker (32) and Rob Collier (28) making runs.
It was a different story at 119 for seven after Janrich Viljoen (3-46) and Tim Goodwin (2-43) got among them and Filleigh were glad of Connor Nash’s 21 for getting them most of the way home.
IPPLEPEN moved away from the B Division danger zone when they won by 47 runs at Cullompton.
Going into the game the Pens were third from bottom in a division with two relegation slots – and Cully were eight points ahead of them. Not any more.
Cully have dropped down to third bottom where they have a 10-point gap between themselves and Shobrooke Park in the second drop spot.
Ipplepen are 15 points above the barbed wire going into this Saturday’s meeting with Filleigh.
Ipplepen’s runs came largely from David Harris (43), Mawgan Penrice (43) and Ben Forsey (26), who took them to 165 for five. Callum King with a brisk 28 took the final tally to 197 for six.
Cullompton’s Parr brothers bowled tidily for little reward. Todd Scrace (4-46) was the main wicket taker.
Cully, who were without injured skipper James Blackmore, replied with 150 all out.
The game got away from then in the time it took to slide from 53 for three to 64 for seven. Seb Powell (2-32) and Ashley Harvey (2-19) did the damage.
Adrian Pullin (39no) and Scrace (33) resisted until veteran spinner Keith Wakeham (3-16) whipped out the tail.
SHOBROOKE Park gave promotion-chasing Seaton a run for their money before going down by three wickets.
These must be worrying times for Shobrooke captain Dan Robbins, whose side has gone eight games without a win.
Defeat leaves them one off the bottom and 11 points away from safety with six games to go, starting with fellow strugglers Babbacombe this Saturday.
Jon James hit 52 off 57 balls – six fours and a six – and Richard Pyle dug in for 29 down the order to get Shobrooke to 166 all out in the last of their 45 overs.
Tim Mitchell – five for 42 – was the cream of Seaton’s bowlers.
Seaton got to 119 for four with Joel Seward (50) and Brian Cann (22) leading the way.
Mark Wheeler (2-31) and Chris Ford (2-36) slowed the chase, but Ben Morgan’s 31 not out off 19 balls took Seaton to victory.
Reviewing the game, Seaton skipper Morgan said: ““The toss was crucial, make no mistake about that.
“The damp patch certainly played its part in proceedings. In general we played a good all-round game and, once again, our bowlers have collectively put a shift in before the batters did their work.
“I thought Brian [Cann] and Joel [Seward} did ever so well to steady us after the early two wickets and I’d like to think we eased our way to a comfortable victory in the end.”
