SOUTH Devon made their case as serious promotion contenders by beating Chelston & Kingskerswell by 16 runs to stay top of the D West table.
South Devon went to the top of the pile seven days earlier by beating Hatherleigh, who were second in the table behind Chelston & Kingskerswell.
Chelston & Kingskerswell coughed-up top spot by losing to Ipplepen 2ndXI and were keen to get it back.
And South Devon were given a fright or two along the way before sealing a win that gives them a three-point lead over Paignton (164pts), who beat Plympton to go second, and an 11-point advantage over Chelston & Kingskerswell (156) in joint third spot with Hatherleigh.
Anchorman opener Jonty Tupman (61) was involved in partnerships worth 196 runs towards South Devon’s total of 239 for five.
Key support came from skipper James Allen (34) and Mike Smith, who made 56 in a stand of 111 with Tupman.
Joel Kearney (3-53) finally accounted for Tupman. Lucas Grierson (2-28 off 9) gave little away.
Grierson and skipper Eril Gregerson rescued the C&K reply from 23 for three with a sizeable stand of 166 for the fourth wicket. When Grierson went for 72 to Dilip Salinda (3-44) it was game on.
Gregersen kept going to reach 86 and South Devon were relieved to see the back of him to Salinda with the score on 210 for six.
Anthony Bingley (3-59) kept the lower order quiet as C&K slowed to a close on 223 for nine.
WHITCHURCH won for the second week running in the D Division West when they overcame Kenn by five wickets.
Kenn’s two main run getters in a total of 139 all out were opener and captain Ben Chaloner (49) and James Mason (44).
Dan Poole (2-17) and Marc Kerswill (2-7) were the leading bowlers in an innings with three run-outs.
Whitchurch opener Ben Powell missed out – he failed to trouble the scorers – but stands of 55 between Josh Towl (42) and Rob Bone (22) then 45 between Richard Potts (30) and Tom Cotter (24no) got the job done with time to spare.
PLYMPTON 2ndXI were outgunned by their Paignton counterparts in an early finish at Harewood Park.
Georgia Hennessy (32) and Steve Raven (28) had the only notable scores for Plympton, who were bowled out for 117 in the 32ndover.
Paceman Charlie Ward (4-19) had wickets at either end of the innings. Spinner Sam Woodcock (3-27) did the damage in the middle.
Joel Ashworth, who went in a first wicket down for Paignton, made 57 not out and Mark Smith weighed in with 30 during the 20 overs batting time needed to polish off the target.
THERE was another early finish at Roborough where Plymouth CS&R were seven-wicket losers against Ipplepen 2ndXI.
Dan Winsor’s run of form continued with 79 – seven fours, six sixes – in Civil’s total of 133 all out. Paul Smith (14) was the only other batter to make more than six.
Civil’s last five wickets went for just eight runs scored as Harry Lewis (4-18) and Steve Bowden (3-29) got busy.
Civil’s Matt Trevorrow (3-35) took all the wickets to fall in Pens’ running total of 59 for three.
Surviving opener Bowden (38no) and Will Gornall (45no) wiped off the rest of the target without mishap.
LEWDOWN fell short on the chase in the derby date against Hatherleigh.
Opener and captain Danny Forrester struck 106 off 115 balls towards Hatherleigh’s total of 229 for seven. A stand of 92 for the first wicket with Adam Quick (32) set the tone.
Wickets were shared with two each for Lewdown bowlers Mark Friend and Tom Pengelly. Dave Ball (9-0-35-1) gave little away.
Ball then lashed a ton of his own opening the batting to get Lewdown going. At 195 for five with Ball on 123 not out there was only one likely winner. Then Simon Weale (3-41) bowled Ball.
Six wickets fell for seven runs scored as Lewdown subsided to 202 all out and a 27-run defeat.
