Marathon man Hewer puts Seaton in driving seat at Brixham

Matt Hewer - 45 overs for 63 not out

MATT Hewer turned in another marathon effort to put Seaton on course for a 90-run win at Brixham.

Hewer missed the first round of games in the B Division as he was resting up after running the London Marathon at the end of last month.

Clearly Hewer has not lost his appetite for endurance events as he batted, and batted and batted to make a top score of 63 not out in Seaton’s 45-over total of 182 for six.

Hewer, who put on 80 with fellow opener Ryan Daye (48) faced 134 balls as he batted thought for a not-outer in the total of 182 for six. No one else made more than 14.

Bradley McKee, a teenager who has joined Brixham from Paignton, took three Seaton wickets for 27 runs.

Brixham were all out for 92 with nine overs to go. No one scored more than the 20 wides Seaton chucked into a total of 24 extras.

Ben Libby (3-20) started the slide then Aussie import Daye took four to 12 to wrap things up.

PLYMSTOCK are where they want to be at the top of the A Division table after winning by 69 runs at Bovey Tracey 2nd XI.

That’s two wins in as many starts for Plymstock, who are already four points clear of Seaton at the top of the B Division table.

Hal Kerton hit 51- six fours, 62 balls – and there were chip-ins from James Nicholls (25), Karl Vendrasco (23) and Mike Blackmore (22) towards a total of 178 for nine.

There were three wickets each for Bovey’s former Devon bowlers Ryan Bougourd – he was unable to travel with the  1st XI to North Devon – and Jeremy Christophers.

Bovey were all out in reply for 109 with more than 14 overs unbowled. No one made more than Ben Steer. Next best was Derek Perry with 11.

Kerton (3-11) got into the middle order, so did Billy Gibson (2-33) and Ian Whalley (2-31) spun out the stragglers.

Vice-captain Nicholls said the bare scores only told part of the story.

“Bovey put us in on a very tricky green top and did superbly well to get up to where we did,” said Nicholls.

“We dug in early and scored well in the last 10 overs with wickets in hand.

“Hal batted superbly well to marshal the middle order.

“Hal showed how a little bit of extra pace helps in this division, but I don't think we bowled superbly and we know there's still a lot more to come from our side, which can only be a good sign for us.”

THORVERTON ran into former Premier Division winner Marcus Green when they met Ipplepen and came off second best.

Green, a member of the Torquay team that won back-to-back title in 1996 and 1997, generally assists Ipplepen’s 2nd and 3rd XIs these days.

But he answered the call to help out in the first teams and his four-wicket haul derailed the Thoverton chase.

Thors were 114 for four chasing 178 to win with John Farley (22) and David Baldock (29) the main contributors.

Tom Durman (2-17) and Green (4-24) turned the game on its head as Thors slid to 129 for seven and on to 141 all out.

Earlier, opener Gareth Penrice had top scored for Pens with32.

Penrice, Dave Harris (26) and Sam Wakeham (29) got Pens up to 150 for six before Thors slowed them down.

Skipper Andy Pitt (3-35) followed up behind Shane Yelverton (2-37) and Jake Choules (2-38) to slow Pens down.

Pitt said Thorverton had definite work-ons ahead of this Saturday’s home game against Bovey Tracey 2nd XI.

“I thought we bowled fairly well overall, but we dropped four catches which didn't really help,” said Pitt.

“Ipplepen did what they needed to do to defend the total and restricted us with good tight bowling and very good ground fielding. It put the pressure on us and led to quite a few loose shots.

“The pitch wasn't the quickest but we should have applied ourselves better.”

CULLOMPTON captain Jason Parr did not mince his words in the wake of a 170-run defeat by Kilmington.

Josh Short (79), Brett Garner (49) and Billy Reed (65) battered the Cully bowling as Killy hoisted 291 for seven.

Garner and Short put on 132 and Reed was involved in stands that added 104 runs before he was fifth out to Parr.

Cullompton were four for two in the third over, Ollie Reed (2-6) doing the damage, and from then on it was a struggle.

James Blackmore hung around to make 22 off 56 balls and skipper Parr made 29 in a hurry, but the next best was 11 as Cully nosedived to 121 all out in the 28th over.

Said Parr: “I was very disappointed with our performance and the measure of the defeat.

“We were completely outplayed in all departments. There is lots to work on this week to bounce back at Seaton on Saturday.”