ALPHINGTON & Countess Wear were knocked off the top of the C East table by a three-wicket defeat at the hands of Exeter 2nd XI.

Sidmouth 2nd XI are the new table toppers courtesy of their two-wicket verdict over Heathcoat. Braunton and Uplyme are both within 12 points of the new leaders as the season heads for a dramatic finale.

Mark Halse (67) and James Bovey (39) made the early runs for A&CW with Nick Halse adding a brisk 30 to take the total up to 242 for eight.

Pete Hensor (2-34) and Mark Gribble (1-25) kept the runs down and Harrison Gribble (2-39) and Freddie Cockram (3-30) plundered wickets for Exeter.

Cockram (41) gave Exeter a start and with Oliver Gribble (31) chipping in the chase was up and running at 110 for four.

Sean Langford (46) and Aashay Dube (69) got the target down to 40 to win with six wickets in hand and it looked a done deal.

Two wickets for Mark Halse and a run out put a different complexion on the game and Exeter were glad of Zach Vukusic’s 18 not out for seeing them over the line.

JON Triner and Tom Jeacock were among the runs as Ottery St Mary coasted to a seven-wicket win over relegation worriers Exmouth 2nd XI.

Ottery’s target was 172 to win and they got there with more than three overs to go on the back of a stand worth 143 between Triner and Jeacock.

Jeacock went out to join Triner after two wickets at fallen for one run scored and they matched each other score for score on the way to a pair of 71 not outs.

No one scored more for Exmouth than skipper Richard Baggs, who was second out on 57 for a patient 37.

Josh Austin and Elijah Pyne with a brace of 18s were next best for Exmouth, whose total was helped along by 25 wides.

Rhys Norman (3-19) took the bowling honours for Ottery ahead of Matt Jeacock, Sam O’Nyons and Dan Alford, all of whom took two wickets each.

While Ottery are closer to the top two (-15pts) than the bottom two (+25), Exmouth’s situation isn’t great.

Exmouth are only eight points clear of the relegation places with a last-five run in of Sidmouth (top), Alphington & Countess Wear (2nd), Braunton (3rd), Exeter (9th) and Uplyme (4th) to finish.

BRAUNTON are up to third in the C East table after roasting Sandford 2nd XI by seven wickets.

The lone promotion place in the division is now 10 points distant, which leaves everything to play for in the final five games of the season.

Cirian Gray made 65 opening up and shared a stand of 159 with Tom Gidney in a Sandford total of 225 all out.

Gidney was fourth out for 79 when the score stood on 174 for four. Next best with 19 was Pete Steer.

James Lake (2-40), Jamie Lathwell (2-51) and Shashank Iyer (2-40) bowled most of the overs for Braunton while Gidney and Gray were batting.  Tom Robotham (4-22) cashed out the lower order.

Braunton lost opener Callum Mitchell on 14, but after that it was plain sailing.

Wickets fell at 95 and 157 as Sam Bithell (25), Sam Reddick (24), Robotham (23no) and Tom Mitcham (93no) knocked off the runs.

Mitcham and Robotham put on 71 unbroken to win the game with more than six overs to go.

HEATHCOAT 2nd XI remain too close for comfort at the wrong end of the C East table after suffering a two-wicket defeat at the hands of new leaders Sidmouth 2nd XI.

With only nine points between Heathcoat and Exeter 2nd XI in the second relegation place, the prospect of going down in successive seasons is a real one for the Knightshayes outfit.

Brother Dan (57) and Ed Butler (45) got Heathcoat up to 144 for five against Sidmouth. Fardin Kibria (29) and Himanshu Aligh (18no) added 39 at the end towards a total of 222 for nine.

Tom Hodgson (3-64), Lee Clayden (2-31) and Tom Chaplin (2-27) were Sidmouth’s main wicket takers. Charlie Gaywood (9-3-25-0) offered little to hit.

Sidmouth got to 172 for two comfortably with Charlie Brock (73), Tom Moore (41) and Ollie Pugsley (34) making serious inroads into the deficit.

Then wickets started to tumble to Ed Butler (3-49) and Lee Dixon (2-33) as Sidmouth slowed from 181 for four to 200 for seven. David Watkins saw Sidmouth through with an unbeaten 20.

UPLYME & Lyme Regis ended a four-game wait for a win with a 26-run victory over Upottery that re-ignited their promotion aspirations.

Results elsewhere were kind for Uplyme, who are now just 12 points adrift of new leaders Sidmouth and seven behind former front-runners Alphington & Countess Wear, who provide the opposition this Saturday.

Uplyme laboured to 168 for nine in the full 45 overs with plenty of chip-ins but only two substantial scores.

Opener Mark Batey made 25 and tail-ender Jack Lamb-Wilson hit 36 not out that helped shunt the score along from 110 for eight to 164 for nine. They proved to be valuable runs.

Ryan Pulman (4-37) and Jack Larcombe (3-34) posted Upottery’s best wicket-taking figures. James Mitcham and Matt Frost both bowled at around two an over.

Upottery were all out for 142 before the 30th over ended and only got that far due to the determination of opener Larcombe. He was the ninth man out on 142 for a carefully constructed 54. Next best on 19 was Andy Pulman.

Joe Elsworth (4-48) and Tyler Wellman (3-36) were Uplyme’s most successful bowlers.

Sam Farrow, the winning captain, said it was a relief to get back to business. “The wheels came off for a few weeks so it is nice to get back on track,” said Farrow.

“Some great, lower-order batting dragged us up to a reasonable score on a tricky pitch. 

“Both sides battled but we managed to get regular wickets and get over the line this time. 

“Plenty of things to work on but good to get back to winnings ways.”