SIDMOUTH 2ndXI were tipped off the top of the C East table when they lost by seven wickets at Exmouth.
Nick Gingell opened with 61 and Anthony Griffiths chipped in with 46 towards a Sidmouth total of 199 for eight.
There were two wickets each for Matt Tarry and James Edworthy. Sean Day bowled nine overs for 26 runs.
Edworthy (31) helped Exmouth to 69 for three, which was where Sam Goodier and Bob Dawson took over.
Goodier went on to make 85 not out and Dawson chugged along to 47 as Exmouth disposed of the target with more than three overs to spare.
Heathcoat are the new leaders after thrashing Braunton by eight wickets.
HEATHCOAT 2nd XI shot to the top in the C Division East after thrashing Braunton by eight wickets.
Sidmouth 2nd XI were the long-time leaders in the division, but surrendered pole position after losing a thriller at Exmouth.
And, as Sidmouth discovered the hard way last season, in a division with only one promotion place there is nothing to be gained from finishing runners-up.
Braunton got to 114 for two thanks to runs from Ben Whitty (49), Alfie Huxtable (23) and Jack Whittaker (44), then collapsed to 183 all out as Joe Hancock (5-35) and Dylan Penberthy (2-29) got busy.
Jake Stoneman flogged an unbeaten 106 and Toby Lochead made 56 as Heathcoat raced to victory with nearly 20 overs to spare. Both wickets to fall were taken by Steve Moore (2-36).
SHOBROOKE Park are hovering one place and nine points above the relegation places in the C Division East after a nail-gnawing two-wicket defeat by Ottery St Mary.
Opener Jareer Shikrani hit 17 fours and a six on his way to 118 in Shobrooke’s 45-over total of 210 for six.
Jon James was next best on 46 and shared a stand of 99 for the second wicket with Western Australian Shikrani.
Will Harrison (3-35) and Jody Clements (2-23) were the pick of the bowlers.
Opener Alex Clements anchored the Ottery chase with 78 off 108 balls and was at one end in partnerships that totalled 180.
Ottery needed four to win from the final over from Shobrooke skipper Dan Robbins. The impetus that got Ottery over the line was provided by Harsha Liyanage, whose 38 not out won the game with a ball to spare.
BARNSTAPLE & Pilton drifted further away at the foot of the C Division East table after losing by 21 runs at Whimple.
With only two wins in 10 starts so far, B&P are 34 points away from safety after their latest setback.
They have not reached the point of no return yet, but in a division with three relegation places their prospects don’t look good.
Cameron Kidd showed why he was named Devon League young player of the year in 2018 by rifling 110 off just 62 balls in Whimple’s all-out total of 204.
Lee Cole and James Lake shared the bowling plaudits for B&P with three wickets each.
Whimple skipper Ben Silk feared his side did not have enough runs on the board – and when B&P got to 120 for five he may have had a point. Matt Clarke (45) and Cole (30) were the leading run getters.
Barnstaple & Pilton were 159 for seven when Clarke was dismissed, and when Lake went for 33 soon after the end wasn’t far away. Four wickets went for 14 runs scored as B&P were dismissed for 173.
Pick of the Whimple bowlers were Gareth Stoneman (3-29) and Matt Richards (3-27).
Said Silk: “We felt we scored at least 50 too few and were all out with seven overs to go.
“Cameron scoring 100 off 57 balls, considering he went from 90 to 100 in 10, was awesome and hopefully the first of many.
“Barnstaple were always behind the rate because we bowled well.”
EXETER 2ndXI won for only the second time this season when they saw off Alphington by 103 runs in the city derby at the Chronicles.
Jamie Telford rapped an unbeaten 106 and skipper Sean Langford posted a season’s best of 80 in Exeter’s 45-over total of 284 for seven.
Alphington’s bowlers struggled from start to finish to keep the rate under five an over, although Ben Newcombe (5-1-24-0) just about managed it.
Alphington started solidly with top three Mark Halse, Matt Taylor and Nick Halse all getting into the 30s. No one accelerated though and that was Alphington’s downfall.
Luke Unsworth (4-23) bagged four of the top five and once the slide started there was little stopping it.
Jawad Basharet (3-14) and David Chamberlain (3-42) did the rest as Alphington slid from 142 for five to 172 for eight and 181 all out.
