Devon Cricket Board - C Division: Lewdown crush Cockington

C Division: Lewdown crush Cockington

C DIVISION

HATHERLEIGH overcame an attack of the jitters to beat Stoke Gabriel by five wickets to move within eight points of second-placed Hatherleigh.

Stoke cobbled together 155 all out with Rob Baker (29), Andy Lockyer (28) and Matt Taylor (23) all chipping in.

Mark Lake (3-36) was Hatherleigh’s leading wicket taker. Simon Gillespie (2-36) and Nick Rogers (2-42) had two wickets each, and there were two run-outs.

Simon Phillips (2-43) and Nick Sandbrook (2-43) had Hatherleigh struggling at 43 for four – and 70 for five wasn’t much of an improvement.

Gillespie (59no) was then joined by Jack Cherrington (31no) in a stand of 86 which won the match. Stoke didn’t help themselves by chucking down 25 wides.

There was only one likely outcome when leaders Lewdown entertained whipping boys Cockington so a 146-run scoreline wasn’t a surprise.

Harry Geering clattered 110 – his second ton of the season so far – as Lewdown reached 251 for seven declared.

Along the way there was a stand of 127 for the third wicket with Dave Ball (37).

Cockington’s former 2nd XI captain Steve Mudge took four for 40 and James Howrihane had three for 69.

Cockington slumped to 35 for seven in reply as Rob Mutch (4-35) and Phil Yeo (6-65) worked them over.

Howrihane (22) and Will Wyatt (32) put in 37, then Wyatt and Steve Breed (12no) notched another 32.

The end came when Yeo took a return catch to dispatch Wyatt.

SEATON remain in deep trouble at the wrong end of the C Division after they were thumped by 145 run at Kingsbridge who started the day immediately above them in the table.

After winning the toss, skipper Ben Morgan invited the hosts to bat only to see them make an excellent start.

A fine spell from James Petherbridge saw the hosts pegged back and Chris Aplin also bowled very well, returning figures of 2-16.

Once again though, the collective batting, with the obvious exception of 14-year-old Reid Mawdsley who top scored with 22, resulted in the reply closing on 115 to consign Seaton to a heavy defeat.

A disappointed Morgan said: “It’s very much poor availability that is our current undoing. However, the lads who are making themselves available and indeed playing really do need to step up to the mark and take responsibility, especially with the bat.

“We are a much better team than the current C Division table suggests but, unless we dramatically improve, throughout the club with both ability and then application in the respective disciplines of the game, then we are in for a real battle to preserve our C Division status.”

With three of the current top five to play in the next four weeks, starting with a home game against Hatherleigh on Saturday, Seaton are going to have to dig deep to maintain the current gap of nine points that keeps them from the C Division relegation berths.

Clyst Hydon were held to a draw at Ashburton, who blocked out for a draw once the chance of winning slipped away.

Chris Jelley (65) and Graham Trude (64) shared in stand of 121 as Clyst got to 227 for nine. Clinton Lewis (41) chipped in.

Bowling was hard work for Ashes, although Gordon Colwill (2-51) and Ashley Harvey (3-37) stuck to their task diligently.

Jelley (3-26) was the leading wicket taker when Clyst bowled, although he was beaten in the economy stakes by Simon Holmes (7 off 9) and Peter Milner (13 off 8).

Berry (33), Martin Causey (28) and Tony Lacey (22) took it safety first to 164 for six and nine points towards catching Seaton in the fight to stay up.

BIDEFORD lost their way at Ivybridge, where a middle-order collapse proved costly.

Andy Johnson (49) and Gareth Andrews (29) put on 50 or the first wicket and with Kelvin Trent (55), Kevin Jacobs (30) and Jeewan deSilva (31no) all chipping in the final total reached 229 for six.

Wickets were hard to come by, although James Ford and Matt Bettis took two each.

Bideford were 84 without loss at drinks with Matt Allin (27) and Mike Young settled in nicely.

Young kept going to reach 76, but the game got away from Bideford as they dipped from 126 for two to 143 for six.

It was safety first from then on with Bideford plodding to the draw at 181 for seven.

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