EXMOUTH defeated Exeter by three wickets to move within sight of safety in the Premier Division.
Mid-winter departures had Exmouth marked down as relegation candidates ball had been bowled – in the first six weeks of the season they lived up to that billing.
Exmouth have steadily climbed the table since them and are now in the top five with two games to go.
Victory this Saturday over old adversaries Torquay, who are propping up the table, should end any worries about going down.
A North Devon defeat in Plymouth will also do the trick.
Exeter are one place and six points below Exmouth. A win over Paignton this Saturday will end any sleepless nights for captain Tom Pedel.
Somerset freed Ben Green to play for his home-town club and he top scored with 61 in their 40-over total of 195 for seven. Next best with 42 was Harvey Sargent.
George Greenway and Alex Craib had two wickets each for Exmouth.
Greenway (33) and James Horler (67) got the Exmouth chase up and running, but three wickets in a row for Dominic Tuohey (3-23) slowed things down.
David Lye upped the pace with 40 off 27 balls, which left captain Andy Buzza (30no) to win the game with nine balls to spare.
Buzza felt Exmouth could have played better at times, but worked hard to get the result they needed.
“We didn't bowl well at all, and gave away 20 runs more runs then we should, yet never stopped working in the field,” said Buzza.
“George set he tone early in the chase by being positive.
“Horler batted well and went through the gears which was great to see.
“Lye again played at huge part in the game with bat and ball.
“It wasn't plain sailing but great to get over the line in a tight match.”
Horler, still only 17, has enjoyed a breakthrough season for Exmouth, after working his way into the 1stXI via the 3rdXI then 2ndXIs over the past three season.
Horler missed a chunk of the first half of the season as he was batting for Exeter School instead. He scored more than 700 runs at an average of a hundred for the school, bettering the records set by future Somerset players Ben Green and Tom Lammonby.
Opening up for Exmouth has produced 352 Premier runs to date – average 27.08 – with three half-century plus scores to date.
No batter under 19 in the Premier Division is as prolific as Horler.
The Devon Lions management had hoped to include Horler in one of their Development games, but a family holiday got in the way.
Losing captain Pedel said it was a close game that could have gone either way.
“Ben and Harvey put us in a good position with their partnership then Dom and Ed bowled well trying to defend the total,” said Pedel.
“They were well backed up by Tom Richardson, who cemented himself as arguably the best outfielder in the league.
“That’s two close losses in two weeks, which is a bit disappointing. Onwards to Paignton next.”
