Cullompton spinner James Vincent, whose economical bowling slowed Barton down late in their innings<br>credit: Conrad Sutcliffe - no re-use without copyright owner's consent

THE B Division game between Barton and Cullompton had players and supporters biting their nails down to the final few balls.

Although Barton won the game by 14 runs, it could easily have gone the other way.

Read-on to discover how, with the benefit of hindsight, rival captains Steve Lewis (Barton) and Brendon Parr (Cullompton) saw the match.

Barton 230-6, Cullompton 216 all out

Steve Lewis (Barton): “One of the best cricket matches I have been involved in. For a B Division cricket match it was such a good standard with great depth. 

“We got off to a fast start through Tary Masakanda (46), then Cullompton dragged us back. Tom Drake (59) batted superbly with me (95) and anchored the innings to 200-plus, which is always defendable at Barton.

“Matt Lipton (3-24) bowled superbly up-front and picked up crucial wickets. Then two amazing catches to get rid of their Deshan Dias (48) and Brendan Parr (42)  was the turning point again in our favour. Brendan hit a lofted drive towards long-on. A back-peddling Stuart Bowker managed to reach it and took the catch falling backwards. An unbelievable bit of cricket that put the game back in our hands.

“It was a see-saw event that neither team probably deserved to lose. Absolutely buzzing and proud of the lads to win a match like this.”Barton's Tom Drake gets the ball away behind point against Cullompton

Brendon Parr (Cullompton): “A great game of cricket that was played in good spirits. There were three remarkable catches from the Barton lads, which, I feel were the difference in a close game. 

“We started poorly with the ball and were put on the back foot. We did well to draw Barton back inside the last 12 overs and to 230 at halfway I thought was about par. 

“We lost early wickets up-front with some pretty average cricket. Myself and Deshan started a rebuild and took us up until drinks. Neither of us could push on and bat through.

“Despite a good fight from the lower order, we fell just short with overs still left to play! 

“We have spoken about the areas where we slipped up and are looking forward to putting things right against Budleigh this Saturday.”

Cullompton leg-spinner Akshay Bharadwaj, who gave Barton plenty to think about