Pugsley man of the match as Sidmouth defeat Clyst in top-of-the-table clash

Sandford

A FOUR-wicket haul for Ollie Pugsley helped Sidmouth 2nd XI to a 28-run victory in the top-of-the-table clash with Clyst St George.

Sidmouth skipper Anthony Griffiths made a season’s best score of 60 as his side totted-up 199 for eight in 45 overs on the Riverside Ground.

Jash Patidar put on 40 with his captain, but the key partnership was one of 93 between Griffiths and man of the match Pugsley (48) for the fifth wicket.

Clyst seamer Ollie Manning – nine overs bowled, eight runs conceded – was almost unplayable. Par Singh (3-33) was CSG’s leading wicket taker.

Clyst had to go for the runs to gain ground on Sidmouth at the top and at 155 for five thanks to runs from Dan Kendall (34), Freddie Creer 53 and the unbeaten Bertie Creer (38) they were in a winning position. Then Jack Rattenbury removed Bertie Creer.

Clyst lost their last five wickets for 20 runs on the way to 175 all out. Pugsley already had four for 34 in the book and there were two wickets each for Rattenbury and Lee Clayden.

Sidmouth top the table on 17.71 points and have two games in hand to improve it. Braunton, also with games in hand, are second on 15.33 with St George right behind them on 15.3.

TOM Richardson slammed a ton and half for Exeter 2nd XI in their 198-run win over Exeter 2nd XI on the Maer Ground.

Richardson took Exeter from none for none to 288 for five on his way to 150. His partner in crime during a stand of 181 for the third wicket was Navid Kaleem (73). Odds and ends took the Exeter total to 303 for six.

Ethan Brenton’s three for 55 was the highlight of Exmouth’s bowling stats.

Six of the best from Exeter Tynan Hill then helped dismiss Exmouth for 105 in reply. Hill took six for 22. Three players made 18 for Exmouth: Jeremy Tozer, Will Gingell and Sean Day.

Victory moves Exmouth into the mid-table area. Defeat was probably a terminal blow to Exmouth’s promotion hopes as they are 3.21 average points behind leaders Sidmouth 2nd XI.

BRAUNTON’S promotion hopes suffered a setback when they lost by 45 runs to Upottery.

Braunton have been there or thereabouts at the top of the C East table for most of the season as they chase the only promotion spot out of it.

With four games to go second-placed Braunton (15.33pts) now trail leaders Sidmouth (17.71) and only have four games left to do something about it. A defeat this Saturday by promotion rivals Clyst St George could be terminal to Braunton’s hopes.

Upottery’s frontline batters almost all made a contribution to their total of 179 for eight. Among the bits-and-pieces scores were knocks of 23 from Rob Tasker, 45 from Lee Jefferson and 32 from skipper Mark Joyce.

Veteran spinner Steve Moore – four for 17 off nine – had Braunton’s stand-out bowling figures.

Braunton’s chase was looking good at 58 for two with Jack Whittaker (35) and Callum Mitchell (25) both contributing.

It was a different story at 77 for six and despite Jon Baglow’s 28 and 13 from Moore it was downhill all the way to 134 all out.

SANDFORD eased their relegation worries in the C Division East with a derby day win over fellow strugglers Shobrooke Park.

Sandford made 190 for nine in a full 45-over game – skipper Shaun Hawkins top scoring on 68 – then dismissed Shobrooke for 165 to win by 25 runs.

Victory moves Sandford two spots clear of the drop zone and puts Shobrooke in no man’s land one place above the drop zone with four games to stay out of it.

As Shobrooke have only won one of their last four games, there’s plenty of pressure on them now.

Chris Blake (45) opened up positively for Sandford with Hawkins and one-to-watch James Theedom (30) moving it along in the middle order.

Shobrooke Park left-armer Chris Simpson took four for 19 from nine tidy overs against his former Sandford clubmates.

Openers Jon James (36) and Simpson (27) made a 64-run dent in the deficit and while Richard Pyle (17) and Andrew Codling (27) stuck around wit was game on.

Hawkins (3-31) sacked off Pyle and once he went Shaun Fryett (4-29) ran through most of the rest as Shobrooke collapsed to 165 all out.

BOTTOM club Whimple won for the first time this season when they defeated local rivals Ottery St Mary by eight wickets.

Victory lifted Whimple (8.27pts) off the bottom of the table and installed Ottery (8.20) as the new basement tenants. 

Both relegation worriers have a lot to do to get catch Shobrooke Park (11.09) to reach safety in the four games left.

There were more extras (34) than individual runs off the bat for Ottery in their total of 164 all out. Rob Johns made a top score of 36 and Henry Mutter had 21.

Nathan Bright (4-43) and Freddie Fenner (2-17) had Whimple’s stand-out bowling figures.

Opener Nathan Kidd (65no) led the Whimple chase, aided and abetted by Luke Phillips and Mark Porter, both of whom made 38.

The second wicket fell 16 runs short of victory when Porter’s demise ended a stand of 103 with Kidd.