Division One
Stogumber v Buckland St Mary
STOGUMBER entertained second in the table Buckland St Mary on Saturday and an interesting game went the way of the home side by 54 runs.
Stogumber batted first and the reliable Stuart Thorne and Simon Penny gave them a good start putting on 74 for the first wicket in just over 13 overs.
Thorne was then joined by Jimmy Rexworthy (47) and they kept the momentum going until Thorne was out for 73.
D Maddocks then turned the screw with his bowling and the rate dropped as he bowled his 12 overs and took 5-37, but fortunately for Stogumber Steven Hayes scored a useful 24 before the home side were all out in the last over for 198.
Stogumber soon had Buckland on the back foot by removing both openers with only six on the board.
However partnership between M Knight and K Reed and Reed and R Maddocks put the result within reach of the visitors by lifting the score to 122-3.
Spinner Simon Penny came on and in his fourth and fifth overs removed Reed and Maddocks and then Hayes ripped through the tail to have Buckland all out for 144 and personal figures of 6-24, giving Stogumber a well deserved win.
Stogumber: 198 (S Thorne 73, J Rexworthy 47, S Penny 25, S Hayes 24, D Maddoks 5-37).
Buckland St Mary: 144 (K Reed 53, M Knight 32, R Maddocks 15, S Hayes 6-24, S Penny 2-35).
Points: Stogumber 26 Buckland St Mary 9.
Timberscombe v
Brompton Ralph
TIMBERSCOMBE were amongst the runs at home on Saturday against Brompton Ralph, their high score being 60 too many for the visitors.
Timberscombe were invited to bat first and with Paul Keal in fine form soon had the scoreboard moving along nicely with Paul Sparks. Keal scored 88, early on hitting the ball over the infield and later poaching singles from the tiring fielders.
Mark Keal hit 31 and other useful contributions included 17 no from Keith Graddon as the home side finished on 219-5 from their forty overs.
G Fitt and D Hill took two wickets each for Brompton although their bowlers struggled to find a length and line, particularly after a shower of rain had affected the ball.
Although Tom Gill (32) looked comfortable for a while Brompton's batsmen found the going difficult.
The main problem to them was Nick Virgin whose off spinners reaped him the figures of 6-36 off his 12 overs.
It was in the 36th over when Brompton's last wicket fell with the total on 149, 60 short of victory and one run away from another batting point.
Timberscombe: 219-5 (P Keal 88, M Keal 31, P Sparks 22, G Fitt 2-48, D Hill 2-62).
Brompton Ralph: 149 (T Gill 32, D Gilbert 23, D Hill 20, N Virgin 6-36, G Thorpe 2-42).
Points: Timberscombe 26 Brompton Ralph 6.
Roadwater v Stoodleigh
WHEN Stoodleigh elected to bat on a hard track at Roadwater and were dismissed for a below par 116 the home side thought they had a chance of another victory, but they themselves also struggled and finished ten short.
R Turnbull looked out of touch for most of his knock for Stoodleigh but his effort proved invaluable as he went on to reach 46, nearly half the total.
No-one else could cope with the bowling of Ben Bowman ,Toby Brewer and Simon Aspey, Bowman and Aspey, the later two now having taken 48 wickets between them so far this season.
Roadwater made a poor start and were on 3-15 and then 6-51, at which stage Petri Cole began a recovery with Steve Cornish, who then carried this on with Simon Aspey and at 102-7 with overs in hand the game had turned again.
But D Drew then returned to bowl Aspey and then mopped up the tail for a final return of 6-18 and gain victory for his side.
Stoodleigh: 116 (R Turnbull 46, D Drew 18, B Bowman 3-26, R Brewer 3-32, S Aspey 2-25).
Roadwater: 106 (S Aspey 22, P Cole 21, S Cornish 17 no, D Drew 6-18, C Woodward 3-37).
Points: Roadwater 7 Stoodleigh 24.
Division Two
Bridgetown v Taunton
ALTHOUGH losing an early wicket in their innings, Bridgetown's final total was far too many for Taunton, the victory margin being 105 runs.
Bridgetown lost Mike Matravers very early but this brought Dave Hillier (70) and Mike Sherring (83) together and their large partnership set them on their way.
Although losing wickets a late flurry by Jim Winzer enabled the home side to post a total of 226-7.
Malcom Pressley Smith did his best to curb the run rate for Taunton and finished with 4-71.
In reply, only S Hooper dealt with the home attack, scoring 51.
The main instigator of their downfall was Doug Sherring who finished with the figures of 4-10.
Points: Bridgetown 26 Taunton 6.
Division Three
Carhampton v Casuals
CASUALS were always in control of their match last Saturday at Carhampton and won easily.
Casuals batted first and I Williams found things to his liking and rattled up 86 before being dismissed.
S Edmunds also got going but failed to go on to a big score and for Carhampton Roger Bowkett and Adam Magill took four wickets.
The home side were always struggling to get near the required rate, only Adam Magill and Chris Milton reaching the twenties.
Perhaps the highlights of the Carhampton performance was the efforts of their younger generation, most notably Luke Milton (aged 14), who kept wicket very well and claimed two stumpings and a catch, and James Dibble (aged 14) and Peter Baker (aged 13) who put on 24 for the last wicket.
Casuals: 182-9 (I Williams 86, S Edwards 23, R Bowkett 4-53, A Magill 4-29).
Carhampton: 121-9 (A Magill 29, C Milton 22, T Tier 3-36).
Points: Carhampton 7 Casuals 25.
Morebath v Over Stowey II
A GOOD knock by Steve Kelland was the main reason Morebath passed the Over Stowey II total on Saturday and gain them a five wicket victory.
Having elected to bat, Over Stowey lost early wickets against tight Morebath bowling but a lower middle order fight back got them to a reasonable total.
C Woodley and M Soffe batted well enough to get into the thirties and the visitor's innings closed on 152, a total which included too many extras as far as Morebath were concerned.
All the Morebath bowlers got among the wickets with Jimmer Blake (3-34) the pick.
In reply Morebath were grateful to Steve Kelland for carrying his bat for 60 no.
He was well supported by Ian Hyde and at the end by Josh Thorne who hit a quick fire 28 no.
For Stowey N Buller was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets.
Over Stowey II: 152 (C Woodley 34, M Soffe 30, J Blake 3-34, J Thorne 2-26, A Foxford 2-34, B Boundy 2-45).
Morebath: 153-5 (S Kelland 60 no, I Hyde 29, J Thorne 28 no, N Buller 2-43).
Points: Morebath 26 Over Stowey II 7.
Division Four
Stoke St Mary v Stogumber
THE difference between winning and losing was certainly M Walker as far as Stogumber II were concerned when they lost away to Stoke St Mary on Saturday.
Stogumber were asked to bat and made steady progress to the twentieth over having 63 on the board with the loss of only one wicket, with M Walker doing a tidy job behind the stumps.
He then took off the pads and helped turn the game in his side's favour by claiming 5-13 as the visitors lost their remaining nine wickets for only 38 runs, mainly through rash strokes, and a final total of 102.
Only Daniel Barnes looked to have any confidence with the bat scoring 26 and to back up Walker G Venn took 3-15.
Ian Ware made an immediate break-through to give Stogumber encouragement when Stoke batted but the thorn in their side was once again Walker who, opening, held his side's innings together by carrying his bat for an undefeated 53.
Wickets fell steadily due entirely to the bowling of Ian Ware who again bowled an excellent 12 overs, taking all the wickets to fall at a cost of 34 runs.
With Stoke at 79-6 Stogumber were still in with a chance but G Venn came in and smashed a quick 17 and he and Walker saw the home side home safely.
Stogumber: 101 (D Barnes 26, T Jenkins 16, M Walker 5-13, G Venn 3-15).
Stoke St Mary: 103-6 (M Walker 53 no, G Venn 17, I Ware 6-34).
Points: Stoke St Mary 25, Stogumber 5.
Brompton Ralph II v
Stoke St Gregory
THINGS don't get much closer than the game between home side Brompton Ralph II and Stoke St Gregory on Saturday, the game ending as a tie.
Brompton Ralph batted first and although three batsmen reached the twenties no-one could bat on to a bigger score.
S Willey did most of the damage with the ball by taking 4-14, but had useful backing by A Harwood and M Willey with three each.
Brompton's final total of 123 off 30 overs had a look of not being enough but had to be got.
Stoke's batsmen found exactly the same problems as the home side's, the top scorer only reaching 25.
Dave Summerside took 4-40 with three from T Ettery and in a tense finish Stoke were all out in the 37th over for 123, the same score as the home side's.
Brompton Ralph II: 123 (D Summerside 28, S Norman 26, B Butcher 25, S Willey 4-14, A Harwood 3-20, M Willey 3-35).
Stoke St Gregory: 123 (Si Willey 25, L Hembrow 19, A Nichol 18, St Willey 17, D Summerside 4-40, T Ettery 3-18, A Gilbert 2-31).
Points: Brompton Ralph II 16 Stoke St Gregory 16.
Dulverton v Bishops Hull
DULVERTON continued their unbeaten run in the league with an emphatic 10 wicket win over Bishops Hull.
Batting first the visitors had no answer to some tight bowling from Adrian Smith, Mike Blake and Neil Ferris, the latter celebrating his twentieth birthday with a spell that yielded five wickets for just seven runs.
Replying, the Dulverton openers reached their target without losing a wicket, with skipper Carl Hooper blazing to a rapid half century that included six sixes.
Bishops Hull: 75 (N Ferris 5-7, M Blake 3-27).
Dulverton: 77-0 (C Hooper 57 no).
Points: Dulverton 26 Bishops Hull 1.
Division Five
Minehead A v Ashbrittle II
MINEHEAD A recorded their second victory of the season with an emphatic win over Ashbrittle.
Put into bat Minehead lost two early wickets but the visitor's bowlers could do nothing to stop the flow of runs coming from the bat of Ian Bowditch and Mukhtar Ali who punished anything loose.
When Ali was dismissed for 23 Gareth John joined Bowditch and they pushed the score towards the 200 mark. after a number of dropped chances Bowditch was eventually out for 141 having hit 28 fours and a six and Minehead's innings finished on 229-6.
In reply Ashbrittle could not get to grips with the excellent bowling of Joe Milburn and Daniel Richardson and were struggling along at only two an over.
Even when the change bowlers came on Ashbrittle still couldn't break out and with spinner Colin Chidgey using his experience he took four wickets and the visitor's innings closed on 135-7.
Minehead A: 229-6 (I Bowditch 141, M Ali 23, J Cotterill 17).
Ashbrittle II: 135-7 (D Howe 39, C Chidgey 4-15, J Milburn 2-22).
Knockout Cup
Brompton Ralph v Winsford
BROMPTON are now in the semi-final of the West Somerset League KO Cup following their defeat of Winsford last Tuesday.
Second Division Winsford found the going difficult against the home premier division side, only J How coping and scoring 32.
The visitors finished their 18 overs on 75-6 with two of those wickets falling to N Hill at a cost of 14 runs.
Brompton found no problems at all when they batted, openers P Pool and T Gill being undefeated on 37 and 34 respectively in the final score of 79-0.
Winsford: 75-6 (J How 32, N Hill 2-14).
Brompton Ralph: 79-0 (P Poole 37 no, T Gill 34 no).
Hinkley Point Cup
Morebath v North Newton
MOREBATH moved into the semi-final of the Hinkley Point Cup with a close eight run victory at home to North Newton.
Morebath were again indebted to Steve Kelland for posting a final total of 127-8 when he went on to score 50. He received useful support from Ian Hyde and Pete Lewis came in late on and hit some quick runs.
One of the highlights of the innings was the quick running between the wickets.
M Barham was the best of the North Newton bowlers finishing with 3-23.
In reply North Newton fell behind the run rate thanks to accurate bowling and good fielding, but a good partnership between Barham and Abrahams put them back in the game.
The turning point may have been the dismissal of Barham with a direct throw by Kelland running him out.
Morebath then kept the scoring in check with Brian Boundy bowling his five overs for only 11 runs and taking two wickets.
Morebath: 127-8 (S Kelland 50, I Hyde 34, M Barham 3-23, B Abrahams 2-16, M Hammerfield 2-27).
North Newton: 119-7 (M Barham 37, C White 19, B Abrahams 18, B Boundy 2-11, A Burton 2-33).