Devon Cricket Board - D Division - Shaldon and Seaton jostle behind Clyst

SHALDON’S pursuit of top two Clyst Hydon and Seaton continues on Saturday when they welcome relegation worriers Feniton to Hazeldown.

The Optimists are fresh from winning by three wickets at Countess Wear, where David Swift smashed the deciding boundary with nine balls to go.

James Bogue, who made a ton when the sides last met, was caught behind off Carl Woolnough (3-25) ad Shaldon made early inroads into the Wear order.

Mark Couch (2-53) and Seamus McKenna (3-42) kept the pressure on and at 99 for six Wear were in trouble.

Kam Singh’s 71 with the bottom half of the order helped Wear up to 205 all out.

Shaldon's innings got off to a great start with in-form McKenna (28) and opener Todd Ballman (25) hitting eight boundaries between them in a partnership of 45 for the first wicket.

Kaveenga Diaz (5-37) started Shaldon sliding towards 73 for five as the game spun Countess Wear’s way./

Couch (41) and skipper Craig Greenwood (37) turned things round with a stand of 49 that left 72 to win in the last 12.

Carl Woolnough made most of them in his 55 not out, leaving Swift to apply the finishing flourish with a pull through midwicket.

Ashburton, at home to Filleigh this Saturday, are only five points behind Shaldon after a 161-run win at Honiton.

Damanpreet Singh hit 105, Tony Lacey mad 63 and Ash Harvey chipped in with 48 not out as Ashes made 278 for four.

Along the way there were stands of 117 between Singh and Lacey, 66 between Singh and Chris Pascoe and 73 between Harvey and Singh.

Marcus West and Harvey then bagged three wickets each, and Dom Durman had a couple, as Honiton were skittled for 117.

FILLEIGH put some distance between themselves and the D Division danger area when they romped to a six-wicket win over Halberton & Sampford Peverall.

Victory leaves Filleigh sixth in the table, but 27 points ahead of Feniton in the second relegation place.

James Marsh claimed four for 32 as Halberton were dismissed for 140. Gary Henry and James Hill took two each.

Although Rob Durrant (3-37) posed early problems for Filleigh, Mark Prideaux (37no) and McAuley Harrison-Hooton (64no) saw the chase to its conclusion.

Filleigh are away to Ashburton this Saturday.

SEATON continued their bid to be the ‘best of the rest’ behind all-conquering D Division leaders Clyst Hydon by powering to a 99-run win at Uplyme and Lyme Regis.

The individual stand-out performance came from Nick Beddell making his seasonal debut for Seaton as he hit a century and then claimed a six-icket haul.

Beddell top scored with 114 and there were supporting knocks from Mark Bray (52) and skipper Ben Morgan (33) in a total of 262-5.

Beddell then claimed six wickets for 25 runs, a feat made all the more impressive as he was the third change bowler!”

Morgan said: “The scores may give the impression that it was a one-man show, but this was actually a great all-round effort;arguably one of our best of the season so far.

“Nick (Beddell) was outstanding. He plays up in the Bristol area, but has a caravan locally and spends the latter part of the summer in it and so plays for us which means we’ll have him on board for the remainder of the campaign which really strengthens us significantly.”

Next up for Seaton is Saturday’s home game with a Honiton side that has found some form since the appointment of Adam Holmes as skipper, though they did lose last weekend to Ashburton.

Morgan says: “Honiton will be a threat as they are clearly currently one of the four clubs battling to avoid the drop, but since Kev (Kelly) stood down as skipper they have seen a change in fortunes and will no doubt be keen to damage our promotion hopes.

“However, we are in a good place right now, playing with a lot of confidence and the arrival of Nick Beedell has given us all a boost. It looks as if we are all playing for the one promotion berth given the lead that the very strong Clyst Hydon side has, so we need to keep winning to stay one step ahead of the rest.”

FENITON produced a much improved all-round performance and, had some of the games key decisions gone their way, might have become the first team this season to defeat D Division runaway leaders Clyst Hydon.

Batting first Feniton made their way to maximum batting points as they closed on 229 with Brian Cann top scoring before being given out on 54. Mark Kingdom hit 48, Martin Swannell struck 26 and Jon Pyle chipped in with a knock of 31.

With 20 overs to go Clyst Hydon were still 140 runs shy of victory, but edged home with just five balls and three wickets to spare.

Jonathan French bowled a superb opening spell to restrict the flow of runs whilst the main wicket takers were Jon Pyle and Mark Kingdon who snared a brace each.

Feniton skipper Graham Tucker said: “That was so much more like it.

“We had got together in midweek and talked through things and you could see on Saturday that that clear the air spell had worked.

“Everybody was clearly signing from the same hymn sheet and, but for some decisions, big one’s too, that went against us, we may well have seen a different outcome!”

Tucker continued: “All is certainly not lost for us. A look at the table with eight to play shows four of us in the thick of it at the wrong end of the table.

“This win-or-lose format can see a teams table position change very quickly and what is important is that we keep believing and, if we play with similar intensity to that which we dished up against the sections top team, then we will get our house in order and avoid a bottom two finish.”

On Saturday Feniton travel to Shaldon. Tucker says: “We’ve never played there so it’s a trip into the unknown, but one we are all looking forward to.”