Alphington against Filleigh in play-off for place in B Division

Filleigh

ALPHINGTON square-up to Filleigh at Kingsbridge on Saturday with promotion the prize for the winners.

Alphas, runners-up in the C Division West, meet their counterparts from the C East for the third promotion place into next season’s B Division.

The winners will be joining Seaton and Abbotskerswell, who are already up as divisional champions.

Ashley Green - Alphington's overseas playerAlphington will be at effective full strength for the game with no one missing who has featured regularly in the second half of the season.

Overseas all-rounder Ashley Green has delayed his trip home to South Africa to play in the game, which is a boost for Alphington.

Player-coach Mark Halse – 884 league runs at an average of nearly 70 – is available and will play.

Filleigh aren’t total strangers to the Alphington players as the two teams were both in C Division East last season.

Alphington won both games, although Filleigh skipper Simon Prideaux isn’t reading much into that.

“I looked at our team for those games and the team for Saturday and only five of the names are the same,” said Prideaux. “They will find us a different proposition.

“”We are a side on a roll at the moment – unbeaten in our last 10 games – and looking forward to the biggest game in the club’s history.”

Alphington were moved into the West this term as part of the juggling necessary to maintain the right numbers in each of the regional divisions.

Players to watch out for include Aussie batsman Justin Saker – 761 runs so far – Simon Prideaux (467) and Ryan Bowden  (285). Leading wicket takers are Jon Hickman (23) and James Campbell (21).

Stuart Shaw, the Alphington captain, said he had a good idea what to expect from Filleigh as their side hasn’t changed much over the past 12 months.

“Bowling wise they had a couple of decent opening bowlers – and were a strong batting side,” said Shaw.

“If you look at their results this season they generally win by batting the other side out of the game.

“They would not be in the play-off unless they were a good side; I like to think we are just a little bit better and that our experience of playing at a higher level will help.”

Shaw is among a clutch of Alphington players – Dave Haysom, Paul James and the Halse brothers are others – who have played at A and B Division level in the recent past.

Opposite number Prideaux respects Shaw’s viewpoint, but argues Filleigh have more to offer.

“We do have a strong batting side – and one or like my brother Mark and Jas Kalsi, who are due to fire soon after a quite run,” said Prideaux.

“We like to bat first, set a total then put pressure on through our bowlers. It’s worked well most of the season.”

Alphington have experience of playing on the sloping pitch at Kingsbridge, which Shaw feels will count for a lot.

“There are quite a few adjustments to be made for bowlers and if you are coming down the hill you need to bowl a different line to usual if you don’t want to be hit,” said Shaw.