SIDMOUTH were given a scare by bottom side North Devon before emerging 15-run winners on the Fortfield.

Sidmouth, bolstered by the inclusion of Somerset and England spinner Dom Bess, made 217 for eight in their 50 overs.

North Devon, who had Somerset and England Lions paceman Jamie Overton in their side, were 202 all out in their last over.

The result keeps Sidmouth in the top four for another week and leaves North Devon nine points adrift at the bottom.

Tom Popham, the North Devon captain, said despite suffering a sixth defeat in seven starts, he saw encouraging signs against Sidmouth.

“Even though it was a defeat there are plenty of positives to take from the game,” said Popham.

“We did very well to restrict them to 220, having Jamie obviously added some extra potency to our attack, but the other bowlers more than played their part.

“Batting wise we were one partnership away from winning the game.

“It was great to see Fred King, Jas Kalsi and Jack Moore keep us in the game, and the fight and character we showed to stay in the game was good to see.

“The next three games are massive for us so we have to build on the positives from Saturday.”

North Devon’s next three games are against sides in the bottom half of the table. They start with Plymouth this Saturday, followed by Torquay then Exmouth, who are the two teams immediately above them.

Opener Alex Barrow top scored for Sidmouth and there were runs for all four members of the Bess family in the final total. Dom made 21, Josh (19), Luke 21 and Zak 38.

Best of the bowlers for North Devon were Overton (3-34) and Adrian Isherwood (3-37). Ben Howe (2-19) accounted for Devon captains past and present: Josh Bess and Barrow.

Zak Bess (5-32) then had North Devon reeling at 35 for four before Popham (43) and Moore (25) sparked a comeback. A second collapse to 107 for eight – Will Murray (3-27) doing the damage – appeared to scupper the run chase.

Kalsi (45) and King (43) gave North Devon hope with a stand of 72 for the ninth wicket.

Bess broke the stand second ball into his return spell when he trapped Kalsi lbw and that was game over.