Division One

Stogumber v Roadwater

ROADWATER elected to bat first on a damp wicket and, on reflection, it may have been a bad decision as they lost quick wickets and their final total never caused Stogumber too many problems.

Roadwater lost their first wicket in the 11th over with the score on 18 but things then went from bad to worse.

In the next ten overs they added 40 runs but lost seven wickets in the process, with skipper Butler Rexworthy doing most of the damage with the ball.

It was then that the visitors had their biggest partnership of their innings when Steve Cornish and ex Stogumber player Simon Aspey (32) put on 36 for the ninth wicket to lift the score to 94 but the end of their innings came eleven overs later on 106.

Rexworthy finished with 5-49 and Brian Penny claimed three wickets.

With a low total to protect Roadwater made a breakthrough with the score on nine but with Stuart Thorne once again looking ominous things went downhill from there on for the visitors.

With Thorne finding the boundary regularly and good support from other batsmen, Stogumber moved towards the required total and although Roadwater used six bowlers they only claimed one other wicket as the home side passed the winning post in the nineteenth over.

Thorne finished on 67 no, surviving a couple of late chances, and Neil Lane 18 no as a final total of 109-2 was reached.

Roadwater: 106 (S Aspey 32, J Rexworthy 5-49, B Penny 3-33, S Hayes 2-15).

Stogumber: 109-2 (S Thorne 67 no, N Lane 18 no).

Points: Stogumber 25 Roadwater 4.

Over Stowey v Huish Champflower

OVER Stowey continued their winning ways with a home win against Huish Champflower.

Having been asked to bat, Stowey managed to reach 143-7 mainly due to excellent batting from Simon Pickard (39) and good support from Phil Rich, Steve Darch and Gary Thomas.

Special mention must be made of Dale Shepherd, who although finishing on only three not out he supported Pickard for the last seven overs and help add 37 runs towards the final total of 143-7.

Although Phil Buckingham (45) batted well for Huish the rest of the side could only manage 46 runs between them and they were all out for 92.

Opening bowler Steve Easden was the pick of the Stowey bowlers finishing with 4-16 off 10.3 overs, four of which were maidens.

Over Stowey: 143 (S Pickard 39 no, P Rich 20).

Huish Champflower: 92 (P Buckingham 45, S Easden 4-16, Thomas 3-12, D Shepherd 2-32).

Points: Over Stowey 25 Huish Champflower 7.

Timberscombe v Trull

ON a pitch which offered bowlers help, Timberscombe's batsmen won the day for them when they entertained Trull and gained victory by 107 runs.

Trull won the toss and put the home side into bat on a soft wicket which gave plenty of seam movement of the ball. Timberscombe batted steadily but surely at the start with an acceleration at the end.

Luke Taylor carried his bat for an excellent 86 no, with 12 boundaries, being severe on any bad balls. Fellow opener Paul Sparks and Greg Howard also made impressive contributions.

J Davey bowled a tidy 12 over spell of 2-26 but the rest of the Trull bowlers didn't make use of a helpful wicket.

In reply Trull were soon in trouble, despite a defiant 26 from opener D Parsons. There were six ducks in the innings which finished on 62.

Unlike the visitors Gary Thorpe made full use of the pitch claiming five wickets for 13 runs off 12 overs of swing bowling. As usual Timberscombe's fielding was good and with Keith Graddon claiming three wickets at the end the innings was wrapped up inside 30 overs.

Timberscombe: 169-4 (L Taylor 86 no, J Davey 2-26).

Trull: 62 (D Parsons 26, G Thorpe 5-13, K Graddon 3-17).

Points: Timberscombe 26 Trull 2.

Division Two

Bridgetown v Holford

BRIDGETOWN had a comfortable 88 runs victory over Holford at home on Saturday.

Bridgetown batted first and with K Buller and P Smith bowling well the home side were restricted to 48-1 after 20 overs.

But then Kenny Cross (76) and Mike Matravers increased the tempo and Bridgetown finished their 40 overs on 178-7.

P Smith finished with figures of 3-48 for Holford.

Holford found the going harder, with Tom Gliddon and Mike Sherring bowling well, taking three wickets each.

D Buller and P Smith got into the twenties but no-one else looked likely to and the visitors were all out for 90.

Bridgetown: 178-7 (K Cross 76, M Matravers 23, P Smith 3-48).

Holford: 90 (D Buller 26, P Smith 24, T Gliddon 3-1, M Sherring 3-27).

Points: Bridgetown 26 Holford 5.

Winsford v Lydeard St Lawrence

WINSFORD continued their winning streak with an impressive 115 run win at home to Lydeard St Lawrence.

Batting first, Winsford started steadily and reached 63-1 off 20 overs. Opener James How was going well but wickets started to fall and it wasn't until Mike Hillier (19) came in late on he was given much support.

Winsford went on to reach 153-8 at the end of their 40 overs with How carrying his bat for 83.

The majority of the wickets to fall were claimed by A Moore (4-49) and T Moore (3-29).

Lydeard's reply hardly started as they found no answer to the bowling of Chris Loosemoore (4-19) and Dan Phippen, who claimed a hat-trick on the way to figures of 5-17, and they were dismissed for 38.

P Ward (17) was the only batsmen to reach double figures.

Winsford: 153-8 (J How 83 no, M Hillier 19, A Moore 4-49, T Moore 3-29).

Lydeard St Lawrence: 38 (P Ward 17, D Phippen 5-17, C Loosemore 4-19).

Points: Winsford 26 Lydeard 6.

Division Three

Morebath v Fitzhead II

THIS exciting match saw batsmen from both sides scoring runs, although no big scores, and it was not until the second ball of the last over that Morebath clinched victory.

Fitzhead elected to bat on a damp wicket which allowed batsmen to score but also gave bowlers hope. They made a slow start but after the loss of the first wicket the middle order upped the tempo, with a little help from the Morebath fielders who dropped catches.

Three batsmen got into the thirties with K Milton top scoring on 35, but the Morebath bowlers stuck to their task and the visitors closed on 166-7 with Brian Boundy claiming three of the wickets.

Morebath also got off to a slow circumspect start but with wickets in hand and runs being shared equally about, they were always in with a chance of victory.

It was when Kevin Kingdon joined Andrew Foxford that the run rate rose and when Foxford was out Kingdon and Brian Boundy saw Morebath home in the last over with Kingdon fittingly hitting the winning runs.

Fitzhead II: 166-7 (K Milton 35, A Wells 34, L Milton 30, K Rees 20, B Boundy 3-55, D King 2-27).

Morebath: 167-4 (K Kingdon 39 no, S Kelland 36, A Foxford 36, I Hyde 22).

Points: Morebath 24 Fitzhead II 7.

Carhampton v Over Stowey II

THIS game was dominated by visitors Over Stowey II on Saturday, their bowling and batting being too strong for Carhampton.

Over Stowey batted first and good batting by B Fowler and a hard hit 41 from R Shepherd set them on the way for a useful total.

This was assured by late knocks by N Buller and K Simms and they finished on 167-7, with all the wickets shared between Dan Gaydon and Roger Bowkett.

Carhampton's reply never got going and although Chris Milton hit 31 no-one else managed to cope with the bowling.

J Chillingworth enjoyed his spell with the ball and took 5-31.

Over Stowey II: 167-7 (R Shepherd 41, K Simms 28, B Fowler 27, D Gaydon 4-58, R Bowkett 3-45).

Carhampton: 100-8 (C Milton 31, J Chillingworth 5-31, N Buller 2-30).

Points: Carhampton 5 Over Stowey 25.

Division Four

Spaxton v Brompton Ralph II

BROMPTON Ralph II's high score was always going to be difficult to beat and so it proved for Spaxton on Saturday as the home side lost by 81 runs.

Brompton batted first and with a strengthened batting line up found runs easy to get. D Gilbert, S Ridler and K Piper all reached their half centuries with Gilbert top scoring with 87.

Their closing total was 248-5, just over six an over.

Spaxton tried hard to get to the required run rate but lost wickets in doing so. N Peek was just two short of his half century when the innings closed on 167-9 with J Crabtree and A Thomas getting into the twenties.

G Fitt (4-47) and D Hill (3-15) were the pick of the Brompton bowlers.

Brompton Ralph II: 248-5 (D Gilbert 87, K Piper 57 no, S Ridler 53).

Spaxton: 167-9 (N Peek 48 no, J Crabtree 24, A Thomas 22, G Fitt 4-47, D Hill 3-15).

Points: Spaxton 7 Brompton Ralph II 25.

Dulverton v Stogumber II

STOGUMBER II travelled to Dulverton on Saturday and less then three hours later were making the reverse journey with their tails well and truly between their legs as they suffered a nine wicket mauling.

Stogumber were put into bat on a wicket which gave assistance to the bowlers if they put it in the right places and, to Dulverton's credit, they certainly did.

Adrian Smith, Robin Irwin and Craig Lewington regularly took wickets with no resistance at all from the visiting batsmen. They finished with three wickets apiece as Stogumber were dismissed for a paultry 20 and a top scorer of six.

The only surprise of Dulverton's innings was that they lost a wicket in achieving their victory which maintains their top-of-the-table position.

Stogumber: 20 (C Lewington 3-9, R Irwin 3-5, A Smith 3-1).

Dulverton: 22-1.

Points: Dulverton 26 Stogumber 0.

Division Five

Brompton Ralph III v

Wiveliscombe

WIVELISCOMBE made the short trip to Brompton Ralph on Saturday to play their III XI and reached their required target without losing a wicket.

Brompton batted first but only T Gilbert could cope with the Wivey bowling, J Beale in particular causing problems.

Brompton were all out for 107 with Beale finishing with figures of 7-42.

D Sharland and D Quick soon had the scoreboard ticking along and were undefeated on 51 and 37 respectively when the winning runs were hit.

Brompton Ralph III: 107 (T Gilbert 40, C Welch 15, C Gilbert 15, J Beale 7-42, D Horton 3-50).

Wiveliscombe: 108-0 (D Sharland 51, D Quick 37).

Points: Brompton Ralph III 2 Wiveliscombe 26.

Minehead A v Crowcombe II

MINEHEAD recorded their third win of the season with an eight wicket win over Crowcombe.

Put into bat Crowcombe made steady progress against the tight bowling of David Veale. Crowcombe opener Joe Bailey was his team's top scorer with 47 and with useful contributions by a number of other batsmen, Crowcombe posted a score of 172-9.

Joe Milburn was again in fine form for Minehead with the ball finishing with figures of 6-44.

Minehead's openers John Cotterill and Colin Chidgey got the innings off to a good start and on their departure Crowcombe never took another wicket.

Muckhtar Ali and Ian Bowditch shared an unbroken partnership of 101 to steer Minehead to victory, riding their luck a little at times!

Crowcombe II: 172-9 (J Bailey 47, T Fitzgerald 25, J Milburn 6-44).

Minehead A: 176-2 (I Bowditch 61 no, M Ali 44 no, J Cotterill 24).

Points: Minehead A 26 Crowcombe 6.