OTTERY St Mary took the fizz out of Braunton’s promotion party when they defeated they by five wickets.
Promotion was already in the bag going into the meeting at Salston Field, which may have taken the edge off the encounter.
Braunton opened-up with a 93-run stand between skipper Callum Mitchell (54) and Sam Reddick (57), but found runs hard to come by once Jody Clements came into the attack.
Clements’ first act was to bowl Reddick, which was the first of the five wickets he claimed. His figures of five for 13 from nine overs slowed Braunton to a crawl at times.
Only Teriq Worrell – 20 off 40 balls – then Joe Mullins (14) got into double figures once Clements started wheeling away. Two wickets for skipper Sam O’Nyons helped keep the pressure on and helped limit Braunton to 181 all out.
Ottery got to 40 without loss relatively easily, then lost three poles getting to 55. Steve Forbes (20) was among the casualties.
Sam Rose (32) stabilised the situation, prior to Jon Baglow (2-21) prising him out.
Alex Clements (34no) and Tom Jeacock (38no) put on 82 unbroken to clinch an Ottery win with seven overs to go.
HEATHCOAT 2nd XI ensured there were no last-day dramas in the C East relegation tussle thanks to a seven-wicket win over Alphington & Countess Wear.
Heathcoat were almost safe going into the final batch of fixtures as they were 15 points clear of second-bottom Sidmouth 2nd XI.
As Sidmouth lost in a hurry to doomed Budleigh Salterton 2nd XI, who won by five wickets with more than 15 overs to go, Heathcoat were off the hook long before chasing 208 to win against Alphington & Countess Wear.
Alphington & Countess Wear used all 46 overs posting a total of 207 for nine. Skipper James Bovey (27) and Will Ruddell (37) opened-up for A&CW, who were looking good at 123 for four with Toby Jones just out for 21.
A slump to 139 for seven changed the dynamic of the game – Joe Parkinson (4-23) largely to blame – and A&CW were glad of a patient half-century from Lawrence Marsh and Jake Pond’s 25 for getting as far as they did.
Tom Lock (24) and Will Bucknell (51) laid the foundations for Heathcoat’s chase. Dan Butler went in first wicket down at 44 for one and was still there at the finish on 75 not out. Parkinson was unbeaten on 26 at the other end.
EXETER’S Josh Paget helped himself to a maiden DCL century in a hefty 210-run win over Uplyme & Lyme Regis on the County Ground.
Paget, part of Exeter’s under-15 squad, opened the innings and went on to score 114 in a team tally of 365 for eight.
By the time Paget was third out on 225 he had put on 137 with Elliott Barnes (61) and another 85 with Felix Joseph (73).
There was still time for another under-15 player Alex Tipper to make 31, Jeremy Tojy to add 34 and for Adam Fradgley to chip-in 22 not out.
Preston Hilless and Sam Farrow claimed three wickets each for Uplyme.
Harrison Gribble was the star man with the ball for Exeter with a five-for30 haul that helped skittle Uplyme for 155.
Gribble took four of the last five wickets to tumble as ten-man Uplyme caved-in from 145 for five to 155 all out. Harry Williams took the odd one out.
Skipper Farrow (42) and Mark Batey (44) were Uplyme’s main run getters.
SEATON finished the season on a high with a six-wicket win over Exmouth that secured a third-place finish.
Having been relegated from the B Division this time last year, ten wins and third in the table represented a respectable turnaround.
Elijah Pyne (37) was the only one of Exmouth’s top-six batters to make much headway against Seaton bowlers Phil Collins (3-42) and Adam Bilston (3-32). James Doulton (9-3-17-1) gave next to nothing away.
Andrew Murray (42) and veteran Greg Marks (24) managed to add 75 between them for the last two wickets as Exmouth cobbled together 187 all out.
Seaton’s run chase was a routine affair that was completed with more than five overs to spare.
Stuart Wright, in a 24 for one, played the anchorman role as Matt Hewer (32), Bilston (43) and Jack Dormer (28no) chipped away at the lead. Wright was 42 not out when the winning runs were scored.
BUDLEIGH Salterton 2nd XI defeated their Sidmouth counterparts by five-wickets in a last-day meeting between the two sides going down from the C Division East.
Kamalakar Posapalli (5-22) got to grips with Sidmouth’s top order as the home side slumped to 45 for four.
David Parker, already in by then, batted through to the end for an unbeaten 95 as Sidmouth recovered to reach 194 all out. Dave Hall (18) was next best in an otherwise sad set of scores.
Budleigh lost opener Marcus Robinson early and were 44 for two with Oliver Roper just out,
A half-century for Steve Booth got the pursuit up to 138 for three and Will Down’s knock of 82 got Budleigh level on 194 for five.
Posapalli hit Liam Dalton (2-28) for four to clinch Budleigh’s second win of the season.
