Devon Cricket Board - C Division East

C DIVISION EAST
WHAT a finish! The north Devon derby between Filleigh and Barnstaple & Pilton ended in that cricketing curiosity… the tie.
Barnstaple & Pilton made 213 for six with Brady Saunders top scoring on 88 not out.
Saunders went in at 44 for two and batted through to the close. He shared a stand f 69 for the third wicket with Tom Popham (47) and another of 52 with Jack Moore 19).
Pick of the Filleigh bowlers were Ryan Bowden (3-37) and Mark Mbfona (2-22).
Filleigh were all out for 213 with four overs to go.
Key men for Filleigh were Mark Prideaux – he made 93 – and Mbfona with 47. Their stand of 117 for the third wicket was significant.
Sean Cole (3-54) took the last wicket to deny B&P the win.
Steve Moore (2-27) and Saunders (2-41) bowled tidily.
Filleigh go to Kentisbeare this Saturday. B&P are at home to Seaton.
SHALDON came a cropper at Uplyme were they were bowled out for 85 and lost by seven wickets.
Will Moore made 22 and Karl Blackburn 18, but that was as good as it got for Shaldon.
Steve Batey claimed five for 26 and Rhys Davies two for two Uplyme got on with it,
Alex Richards (27) and Alfie Bellworthy (18) got the runs knocked off in a hurry.
The game finished so early tea was taken afterwards!
Mark Couch, the Shaldon captain, said over confidence following a good win over Alphington was a contributory factor in the defeat.
He added: “They bowled well but we needed to show more application and dig in when required.
“It was a timely wakeup call and it will be interesting to see how the team responds.
“We are enjoying our cricket and especially off the pitch but it’s time to grind out our batting and win some games.”
OTTERY St Mary skipper Lewis Towsend is trying to stay grounded despite his side’s runaway start to the season.
Six games into the campaign Ottery are top of the table with 115 points banked from 120 available,
Seaton and Alphington, who share second place, are a further 24 points behind.
Winless Kentisbeare were the latest casualties - crushed by nine wickets.
Hot property Billy Rudolph took seven for 43 as Kents were bowled out for 174.
Then Rudolph (74) and Townsend (84no) raced to victory.
Said Townsend: “Obviously I am happy with the way things have gone, and proud of our performances.
“We are in a fantastic position, however, we are being conscious not to get ahead of ourselves.
“There's a lot of cricket left to play and we're aware that we have a tough run of games coming up.
“Saturday was a clinical performance from us as Kentisbeare can be a tough place to play.
“All the guys turned up and put in a pleasing performance.”
The tougher games start this Saturday with a visit from Alphington.
CLYST Hydon will be looking to arrest their slide down the C Division East table when Uplyme are the visitors this Saturday.
Hydon are one place and 11 points clear of the relegation danger area after another defeat, this time by hefty 182 runs at Alphington.
Neil Murrin took his frustrations out on the Clyst bowlers having been dropped from the Devon O50 side by stroking a joint top score of 77.
There was a stand of 80 between Murrin and Ian McDonald (35) to get the board moving, then another of 140 between Murrin and Tom Bath, who also made 77.
Jimmy Billington (2-30) and Dhanuja Haturusingha (3-39) were the best of the Clyst bowlers.
Hydon were all out for 108 in reply with Kevin Sercombe (20) offering the most resistance.
Spin proved Hydon’s undoing with three wickets each for Stuart Shaw (3-10) and Paul James (3-18). Ben Newcombe took two for 18.
FENITON will want to bounce back from their defeat by Seaton when the entertain Shaldon, who are one of the four sides below them.
Adam Ramcharran’s top scored with 60 in Feniton’s 193 for nine. Mark Salter chipped in with 47.
Joel Seward (4-38) was the best of the Seaton bowlers – and he hadn’t finished with Feniton.
A stand of 104 for the fourth wicket between Seward (60) and skipper Ben Morgan (67no) helped Seaton to a six-wicket win with nearly three overs to spare.

Morgan said: “It was a cracking game and underlined, once again, the strength we have in depth at the club now. Joel (Seward) was again exceptional both with ball and bat. However for me the key is all-round strength.

“We had all seven bowlers, any one of whom could, if need be, bowl a full nine over shift, in our XI and so I was happy to keep Feniton below 200.

“Mind you, at 145-2 I thought we’d be chasing a larger total! I really do not believe we have still seen the full potential of the side.

“However, on the flip side of that we now have a unit I which different people seem to be stepping up the plate each week.

“It all looks very good right now, but the key has to be maintaining high standards. If we do that we’ll stay with the leading pack and give ourselves a good chance in terms of end-of -season honours.”

On Saturday Seaton travel to Barnstaple and Pilton. The North Devon outfit will start the day fifth, three places and 24 points below them in the C Division East table.

Morgan says of the trip north: “It’ll be tough. I just hope we get good availability.”