Brierley (pictured) sees Braunton home with unbeaten 64 | Bideford bowled over by Blowers

Dan Brierley who saw Braunton 2nd XI home against North Devon

NORTH TWO

BRAUNTON 2ndXI finished their North Two programme unbeaten when they defeated North Devon 3rdXI by four wickets to ensure a place in the play-offs.

Matt Knapman (86no) and Phil Pennington (45) were North Devon’s gun batters in their 35-over total of 193 for two.

Braunton ran into difficulties from time to time on the chase against Will Popham (2-30) and Mikey Wiltshire (2-54) but an unbeaten 64 from former 1stXI skipper Dan Brierley saw them home with more than five overs to spare.

Braunton’s reward for topping the table is a play-off appointment with South Eight winners, which will be either Stoke Gabriel or Stokeinteignhead

Filleigh, resigned to second spot, enjoyed a resounding 111-run win over Bideford 2ndXI.

Opener Charles Cullen batted from start to finish for 60 not out and shared stands of 57 with Mark Prideaux (46) and 75 with Pete Buckley (23) in Filleigh’s tally of 193 for five.

Bideford opener Julian Hayter (40) was the only batter in his side to make more than eight as Filleigh bowled them out for 82 in the last over.  Five batters did not make a run between them.

Will Blowers (5-7) singlehandedly reduced Bideford from 77 for five to 82 all out.

Martin Gear top scored with 62 for Newton Tracey in their 143-run romp against Hatherleigh 3rdXI.

After Oliver Symons (41) and Jon Gay (40) put on 72 for the second wicket, Gear was involved in stands worth 137 in a total of 253 for eight. Kieran Jerrett (28) was not out at the end. 

Martin Quick (3-43) took the bowling plaudits for Hatherleigh, who were all out for 110 in reply.

Adam Quick’s 43 was as good as it got for Hatherleigh, who were bowled out by Jerrett (4-26) and Marcus Bulled (3-24).

SOUTH SEVEN

SOUTH Devon 2nd XI won for the first time in South Division Seven when they saw off Chelston & Kingskerswell 2nd XI by 48 runs.

Opener Ryan Maunder followed his century against Shaldon seven days earlier with another ton in South Devon’s 35-over score of 191 for seven.

Maunder, who dispatched nine fours and two sixes on his way to 100 not out, shared a stand of 84 for the second wicket with Richard Beaumont (40).

Bertie Youd’s three for 30 from six overs was as good as it got for C&KCC on the bowling front.

Richard Beamont, runs and cheap wickets for South Devon 2nd XIFormer South Devon batsman Ben Pritchard opened up for the Villagers and was first out for 14 to Rob Stephens.

Surviving opener Kevin Jones made 36 and next man in Mike Wilkinson 18, but once Jones went wickets fell regularly to Beaumont (3-19) and ShaunTaylor (3-32).

Craig Hudson (31no) delayed the inevitable before C&KCC bowed out for 143 with seven balls to go.

Matt Kitto, the second-team captain, said Maunder’s second ton was more impressive than the 141 he made against Shaldon.

“Ryan showed again this week how good he is at going through the gears,” said Kitto.

“The similarity to last week's innings was uncanny but, if anything, this was even better considering it was on a bigger ground with a slow outfield.”

Kitto also had a pat on the back for Beaumont, one of the club’s most experienced players.

“It's always a bonus to have Richard in the second team,” said Kitto.

“Richard’s partnership with Ryan was priceless, then his and Shaun's experience with the ball enabled us to close out a well-deserved win.”

EAST FIVE

AS with the first encounter a couple of weeks ago between Kentisbeare II and Topsham SJ II, each side fielded seven teenagers, although this week's game failed to replicate the previous close contest.

Topsham St James won the toss and had no hesitation in asking their hosts to bat on a strip which always had something in it for the bowlers. Paul Diamond, who for a number of years coached the Topsham colts, was able to admire the results of his handiwork as they set about dismantling the home batting. Diamond himself scored 14, but by the time he was fourth out all three Gilletts - Joe, Freddie and father Justin - had gone for a total of five runs between them. Rob Gleave contrived a couple of boundaries, but the star of the innings was young Tom Kittow, who battled for just over an hour to record top score of 19. He shared a seventh-wicket stand of 18, the highest of the innings, with Zara Maynard (10) the only other batsman in double figures. Unfortunately, it was too little and too late, and Kentisbeare were all out for a sorry total of 74.

Topsham used just five bowlers. The pick was veteran (in this company, anyway!) Jon Hull, with 3 for 18, whilst all the other wickets fell to the youngsters. Billy Knightley (2 for 11), Maddy Ross (2 for 17) and Charlie Ferraro (2 for 7), shared the spoils, and Sam Luddington contributed seven promising overs of off-spin without quite the luck he deserved. 

Morgan Maynard was unfortunately injured early on whilst fielding, and unable to bowl. Jeremy Tojy again kept wicket well.

When Topsham batted, skipper Adrian Ferraro looked as if he wanted to settle it all in five overs, which he would have done had he continued at his initial rate. He took 12 runs off Freddie Gillet, plus three wides, so that after six balls the score was 15 for 0. To be fair to young Freddie, he bounced back superbly, and conceded only a further 9 from his remaining three overs. Adrian, in the meantime, became impatient, and got himself out for 22 to a careless shot, albeit brilliantly caught by Rob Gleave. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for Kentisbeare. Alex Collins (24) and Charlie Ferraro (17) batted with a calmness and maturity beyond their years, and saw Topsham home to a winning total of 75 for 1 off just 17 overs.

The only home bowler to take a wicket was Guy Maynard (1 for 10). but five others bowled at least one over, and none of them were disgraced.