Devon Cricket Board - Exeter CC win U13 and U15 ECB Cup Competitons

Exeter CC win U13 and U15 ECB Cup Competitons

In a very successful year for Exeter CC juniors, this last week has seen them win the Devon round of both the U13 and U15 ECB Cup Compeitions and they will now progress to the National stages. Below are reports of the two regional finals:

U15 Cup

On a glorious sunny Sunday afternoon, Exeter hosted Paignton U15’s in a match that would determine who would claim the title of 'Best Under 15 Club side in the County'. Jake Reddick (Captaining Exeter in the absence of the injured Jamie Telford) shook hands with visiting skipper Dan Wolf and having won the toss, invited the visitors to bat.

As 'Big Dom' Gaywood took the new ball from the Pavilion End, the levels of anticipation increased as the parents watched on in nervous expectation. Dom opened with a good over, conceding just 2 runs. Harry Molins opened from the Park End, with Noah Wright and Dan Wolf looking to get Paignton off to a good start.

On a fast outfield and with 8 overs to go Paignton were on 72 for 2 when changes to the bowling in the last few overs, led to wickets for Jake Reddick (in his third spell finishing with 2 for 17 from 4 overs), and a well deserved wicket for the returning Dom Gaywood (4-0-19-1) seeing Paignton finish on 135 for 6.

Exeter’s response opened with Jake Reddick and Fergus Vinnels, and the plan was to take what the opening bowlers offered, but take no chances! The pair batted perfectly to instructions as they saw off the opening bowlers with 20 on the board after 5 overs. Some powerful hitting by both batsman saw the scoring rate climb dramatically as Jake and Fergus took control of the run chase.

Skipper Dan Wolf bought himself back on and an extravagant shot from Paddy Postie won the game for Exeter with 11 balls to spare. A great team performance, with Oz Martin claiming a catch, Ben Howkins, Oz, Harry Molins and August (2 for 20) bowling, and Will Bentley racing around the field with his teammates, it was a well deserved win that sees Exeter progress to the next phase of the ECB National Club Championship against the winners from Cornwall.

Everyone should be proud of what they have achieved, Joe Holmes, George Hunt, Tom Murphy, Ben Green and Seb Lewis have all played in earlier rounds, and today's win was for our injured Captain Jamie Telford who had also played a big part in earlier matches. The strength in depth has proved a major contributor to the team's success.

U13 Cup

In a thrilling game played at the County Ground Exeter met Yelverton in the final of the 20 over aside cup.

A green wicket gave the bowlers the edge and despite a 32 not out for Tom Lammonby and valuable contributions from Mikey Cooper and Rob Dunn, Exeter were restricted to 119 runs. This was a very much below par score for the Exeter team who had nudged 180 in previous rounds.

Yelverton pressed hard despite the early loss of wickets. A stunning leaping catch from James Mclaurin and another from Cooper behind the stumps kept Yelverton in check. As the game became tighter there was a timely maiden over from Ben Sapiecha along with the dismissal of Jack Smyly ( bowled Will Silver) on a creditable 26. This swayed the odds in favour of Exeter and in the end Yelverton fell 17 runs short. The sportsmanship by both teams needs to be applauded.

Exeter go on to meet the Dorset Champions with an eye towards the regional finals and possibly beyond.

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