EXETER 2nd XI missed the chance to gain ground on C East leaders Braunton when they lost at Seaton.

While Braunton were coming unstuck against visiting Uplyme & Lyme Regis, Exeter were on the way to a 73-run defeat at Seaton. Chasing 212 to win they were bowled out for 138.

An Exeter win would have cut the gap between the top two to 10 or 11 points. Instead they remain 22 points in arrears.

Seaton opener Matt Hewer stroked an unbeaten 104 against Exeter towards a total of 211 for eight. It was his first league ton since taking one off Thorverton in 2018.

Adam Bilston made 22 and there were 34 extras.

Pick of the Exeter bowling with four for 33 on his debut was 14-year-old left-armer Muhammed Kaleem. Harrison Gribble (1-31) and Adam Fradgley (1-35) both bowled nine mean overs.

Jeremy Tojy (30) and Felix Joseph (26) were the only members of Exeter’s top six to make much progress at the start of the reply.

The middle order failed to fire and by the time Kaleem made 21 going in at number 10 the game had long ago got away from Exeter.

Phil Collins (3-29) and Bilston (2-18) were the leading Seaton bowlers.

WILL Owen announced his arrival in Exmouth 2nd XI by caning Alphington & Countess Wear for a debut century on the way to a 98-run win at the Chronicles.

Owen, recruited from the nearby Royal Marine training establishment at nearby Lympstone, went through the Somerset age groups – and it showed! He hit 12 fours and four sixes on the way to 110 in Exmouth’s total of 351 for six.

“Will made it look very easy,” said Exmouth captain Richard Baggs (69), who shared a 119-run stand with the new boy.

There were more runs to come down the order from Louis Adey (59no) and Sam Goodier (52), who put on another 63 in the dash for runs at the end.

Tynan Hill (2-52) was the only A&CW bowler to take more than one wicket – and the only one to operate at less than six runs an over.

Alphington & Countess Wear’s top order showed they knew a thing or two about run-getting as Lawrence Marsh (68) and skipper James Bovey (94) got the reply up to 200 for four.

Keeping up with an asking rate of nearly eight an over proved too much of a task and wickets tumbled in the final third of the innings. Will Pring was unbeaten on 27 in the final total of 253 all out.

Asad Ullah (3-41) took the bowling honours for Exmouth. Elijah Pyne and Josh Austin claimed two wickets each.

BUDLEIGH Salterton won for the first time this season in the C Division East when they overcame Ottery St Mary by five wickets.

That elusive first win was just enough to lift Budleigh out of the bottom two on bonus points, although they are level overall with Sidmouth 2nd XI on 53.

Alex Clements batted through for 107 not out for Ottery in their 45-over total of 247 for six. He put on 85 with Sam Rose (49) and 58 with Joe Burch (21).

Oscar Sims (3-46) and Fin Shipton (2-36) were Budleigh’s main wicket takers.

Budleigh made an inauspicious start – they were 59 for four following a going over by Burch (3-39) – but the impact of Donovan Robinson swung the game their way.

Robinson regrouped with Ryan Harris-Cotton – they put on 63 – then put together a match-winning partnership of 127 unbroken with Kamalakar Posapalli (67no) to win it.

Robinson was on 94 not out when Posapalli hit the winning runs in the 42nd over.

LEADERS Braunton lost for the first time this season when Uplyme & Lyme Regis defeated them by five wickets at Kelsey.

But no damage was done to Braunton’s position at the top as second-placed Exeter and third-in-the-table Exmouth both lost as well. Callum Mitchell’s men remain 22 points clear at the summit.

Opener Steve Aston made a top score of 69 for Braunton towards a total of 212 all out.

A stand of 88 for the second wicket with Sam Reddick (27) was the highlight.

Teriq Worrell (32) kept one end going mid-innings while wickets fell at the other to Sam Farrow (3-35) and Charlie Moss (3-43).

Preston Hilless was the man of the moment with the bat for Uplyme with 84. A stand of 108 with Mark Batey (43) pointed the chase in the right direction.

Joe Elsworth (20no) and Steve Batey (41no) finished the job with an unbroken sixth-wicket stand worth 68.

Two wickets each for Jon Baglow (2-32) and Steve Moore (2-37) were among Braunton’s limited bowling breakthroughs.

SIDMOUTH 2nd XI won for only the second time this season when they defeated Heathcoat 2nd XI by 36 runs in the basement battle on the Fortfield.

Heathcoat weren’t actually in the bottom two going into the latest round of fixtures, but Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton 2nd XI have both moved past them.

Three wickets for skipper Lee Dixon (3-39), and two each for Jack Tucker (2-26) and Sam Venn (2-24), helped Heathcoat bowl out Sidmouth for 194.

Sidmouth’s best partnership was an opening one of 57 between Will Goodall (33) and Jack Rattebury (15). Charles Brock (33), Reece Hext (27) and Tim Chapman (23) chipped in lower down the order.

Opener Tom Lock underpinned the Heathcoat chase with a patient 41 and with him in and the score 111 for four the situation looked promising. Losing three wickets for four runs scored – Lock and Dixon (25) among them – put a different complexion on the game.

Tucker (31 off 18 balls) tried to salvage the situation. But when he was eighth out on 152 the end wasn’t far away.

Chapman (3-44) was the main wicket taker for Sidmouth. With two each for Henry Lester and Liam Dalton in Heathcoat’s all-out total of 158.