By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE
KILMINGTON beat Ottery St Mary by six wickets to install themselves as favourites to win East East One and go through to the play-offs.
The only side left in the running to catch Kilmington are Upottery, whose ‘win’ over Sidmouth 2ndXI last time out does not count in the records.
Sidmouth had conceded seven days earlier against Kilmington due to team-raising issues and ensured consistency by doing the same thing against Killy’s play-off rivals.
In a season when average points will decide final placings, Kilmington (20pts) have a sizeable lead over Upottery (15.5) in second place. The two sides meet this Saturday.
To change the pecking order now Upottery have to beat Kilmington and post a points differential of plus 19. It’s a tall order.
Ottery were all out three overs early for 148 against Kilmington. Eddie Rudolph made 45 of the first 93 on the board. George Mutter (24) and George Southall-Brown (22) were the other significant contributors.
Josh Short was the man of the moment with the ball for Kilmington. He took five wickets for 15 runs.
Kilmington were home and dry with more than 11 overs to spare thanks largely to contributions from Short (20), Billy Reed (33) and skipper Brett Garner (40no).
Said Garner: “When they won the toss and batted, I was thinking we needed to look at keeping them to something below 200 and, to be fair, all the lads bowled really well – especially Josh [Short].
“If we had an issue it was with our catching, but I am as guilty as the next man on that score.”
Garner went into the game aiming to avoid a third successive first-ball dismissal. Some runs were more than welcome.
““I was getting some stick about how life would be with a hat-trick of first ballers so I was very relived to get of the mark.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s game at Upottery, Garner said his men won’t be looking for just the bare minimum to qualify for the play-offs.
“We’ll certainly not be going there thinking about what we need to do to be sure of the points,” said Garner.
“Like every game, we are heading into this one looking to win it.”
UPOTTERY beat Sidmouth 2ndXI by six wickets in the friendly game played on the Fortfield instead of a league fixture.
James Mitcham (4-28) and Ben Kidson with three wickets helped dismiss Sidmouth for 156. Charlie Brock top scored on 36.
Matt Button-Stephens (60no) and Ollie Cave (59) conducted Upottery’s run chase.
It will be far more serious this Saturday when Kilmington are the visitors to Glebe Park.
The arithmetic suggests Kilmington are as good as through to the play-offs, but Upottery captain Mark Joyce sees it differently.
“To beat Kilmington and deny them three points is going to take quite an effort on our part,” said Joyce.
“They are a very good side and trying to win a game while also limiting bonus points for the opposition is quite a thing.
“It’s not impossible and, while it might be unlikely, we’ll be giving it our all.”
SIDMOUTH 2ndXI are due to host Ottery in their final game this Saturday.
Additional reporting by Steve Birley
