Division One

Fitzhead v Stogumber

FITZHEAD had little difficulty in defeating a depleted Stogumber side by nine wickets on Saturday, the visitors having half of last season's championship winning side unavailable and only fielded ten men.

Batting first, Stogumber struggled throughout their innings to get to terms with Darren Burns' bowling, only the first three batsmen reaching double figures in the final total of 71.

Burns went on to finish with figures of 7-32 off his twelve overs, the last three wickets of the Stogumber innings falling in his last over, all bowled.

The home side had little trouble in hitting off the winning runs, taking only 12 overs leaving Stogumber to catch the early bus home.

Stogumber: 71 (S Penny 19, J Rexworthy 16, D Burns 7-32, M Burns 2-25).

Fitzhead: 73 (C Burns no 20, N Hendy no 20, J Milton 17).

Points: Fitzhead 26 Stogumber 1.

Brompton Ralph v Trull

BROMPTON Ralph easily overcame Trull on Saturday by 117 runs, but not before an early scare in their batting.

Brompton batted first and after 13 overs were in trouble on 55-6.

But then the lower order batsmen played their part and with A Gilbert top scoring lifted the final total to 197.

M Barrett took 4-55 for Trull and D Lake and J Davey three each.

When Trull batted no-one could cope with the bowling and aided by three run outs Brompton dismissed the visitors for 80.

C Welch was the pick of the bowlers having the figures of 3-4 off seven overs.

Brompton Ralph: 197 (A Gilbert 45, P Power 39, M Wright 22, M Barrett 4-55, D Lake 3-37, J Davey 3-66).

Trull: 80 (W Parsons 29, C Welch 3-4, N Hill 2-33).

Points: Brompton Ralph 26 Trull 6.

Division Two

Winsford v Crowcombe

CROWCOMBE have certainly found life a little easier since being relegated from the top division as they comfortably beat Winsford away on Saturday by 117 runs.

Crowcombe batted first and reached the testing target of 192-8 after their 40 overs.

S Hole and S Bailey both reached their half centuries, Hole top scoring with 56 no.

For Winsford T Matravers and C Carter both took three wickets.

Winsford struggled throughout their innings against the visitor's bowlers, Chris Brewer being the pick of them finishing with 4-19.

M Hayes and T Matravers looked likely to build an innings but were both out before they reached 20.

Crowcombe: 192-8 (S Hole 56 no, S Bailey 51, T Matravers 3-32, C Carter 3-47, D Phippen 2-59).

Winsford: 75 (M Hayes 17, T Matravers 16, C Brewer 4-19, S Bailey 2-7, T Baker 2-23).

Points: Winsford 5 Crowcombe 26.

Exford v Allerford

WINNING the toss and electing to bat proved a success for Exford as they beat Allerford by 53 runs.

S Webster looked in form from the off and after two quick wickets fell he and K Atkins put on 54 for the third wicket and took their side to 80 off 20 overs.

Sharp fielding by L Taylor had Webster run out for 33 but Exford continued to score well, Atkins falling when his score had reached 46.

Allerford, short of bowlers, called on L Taylor to achieve the break through and he did this to the extent that he finished off the Exford innings with 6-46 and the score on 171.

Allerford's reply looked like a winning one early on when the score had reached 87 without loss off 23 overs, L Taylor and S Howard looking comfortable.

But when they attempted to accelerate tight bowling by N Sherring and young S Webber tied them down and with both bowlers taking four wickets Allerford were all out for 118.

Exford: 171 (K Atkins 46, S Webster 33, L Taylor 6-46, P Matravers 2-42).

Allerford: 118 (L Taylor 46, S Howard 37, N Sherring 4-27, S Webster 4-8).

Points: Exford 26 Allerford 8.

Division Three

Cutcombe v

West Monkton

CUTCOMBE'S bowlers proved too strong for West Monkton on Saturday, helping their side to victory by 91 runs.

Cutcombe batted first and were soon in trouble against a steady West Monkton attack and found themselves on 21-2.

Contributions from L Baker and P Lee helped lift the score to 87-4 and when John Matravers joined B Bisgood they attacked the bowling and lifted the score to 190 before Bisgood (46) went in the final over.

Matravers was undefeated on 54 when the innings closed on 191-6, with the fifth wicket partnership producing 98 off 13.3 overs.

P Contreras was the pick of the West Monkton attack finishing with 3-19.

When the visitors batted only N Contreras showed any resistance to the Cutcombe attack and went on to score 43.

Brian Bisgood completed a fine all round performance for Cutcombe by finishing with bowling figures of 6-27 off eight overs.

Cutcombe: 191-6 (J Matravers 54 no, B Bisgood 46, P Lee 27, L Baker 23, P Contreras 3-19).

West Monkton: 100 (N Contreras 43, B Bisgood 6-27).

Points: Cutcombe 26 West Monkton 5.

Division Four

Timberscombe II v Knapp

TIMBERSCOMBE II eventually emerged comfortable winners by 138 runs at home to Knapp on Saturday.

After being put into bat, Timberscombe's openers, Bruce Lang and Ian Snell, had to battle to survive against a testing attack - but survive they did to build an important opening stand of 65.

Dave Cook then joined Lang and consolidated the home side's position with a stand of 55.

In the final overs an acceleration was made to reach 166, with wickets being sacrificed, including Lang's for 78 in the final over.

It soon became apparent that the total would be more than adequate as Timberscombe's young bowlers Dominic Westcott and Dave Chilcott made early inroads into Knapp's batting order.

Only J Wadham got into double figures with 19 until he was brilliantly caught and bowled by Westcott.

Knapp soon subsided to 54 all out in the 21st over with Westcott collecting four wickets and Chilcott three.

Timberscombe II: 166-6 (B Lang 78, I Snell 21, D Cook 18).

Knapp: 54 (J Wadham 19, D Westcott 4-25, D Chilcott 3-19).

Points: Timberscombe II 26 Knapp 3.

Dulverton v

Bishops Hull

DULVERTON gained their first league win of the season on Saturday with an easy eight wicket win over Bishops Hull.

Batting first the visitors found runs hard to come by against Dulverton's opening bowlers C Lewington and A Smith, who reduced them to 39-2 after their 24 overs.

The opening bowlers were well backed up by D Stone who, on his return from Australia, took 4-27 and J Ellerby 2-26.

C Keyte was the only batsman to look comfortable as Hull finished their innings on 91-9.

Dulverton lost two early wickets in reply and were 24-2 after seven overs.

C Hooper join M Blake and the pair put on an unbeaten partnership of 62 in six overs, 52 of these coming in boundaries, to leave Dulverton easy winners with still 27 overs remaining.

Bishops Hull: 91-9 (C Keyte 25, D Stone 4-27, J Ellery 2-26, C Lewington 2-27).

Dulverton: 92-2 (M Blake 43 no, C Hooper no, S McGrail 2-33).

Points: Bishops Hull 3 Dulverton 25.

Spaxton v

Brompton Ralph II

BROMPTON Ralph's visit to Spaxton on Saturday proved successful as they came away winners by 5 wickets.

Spaxton batted first and although six of their batsmen reached double figures no-one hung around long enough to hit a big total. N Peek was their top scorer with 29.

N Dickens with four and A Price with three were the main wicket takers for Brompton.

Opener Bill Butcher carried his bat for Brompton and was instrumental in his side winning the game but Cavan Takle's acceleration (32 consisting of all boundaries, four 4s and three 6s) ensured the match finished early with over eight overs remaining.

Spaxton: 161-9 (N Peek 29, A Fisher 25, J Lee 24, R Gower 23 no, N Dickens 4-34, A Price 3-49).

Brompton Ralph II: 163-5 (B Butcher 80 no, C Takle 32, M Pollock 21, N Davey 3-44, J Coles 2-35).

Points: Spaxton 7 Brompton Ralph 25.

Division Five

Stogumber II v

Brompton Ralph III

STOGUMBER II won again on Saturday when they defeated Brompton Ralph II at home by 18 runs in a game which at one stage looked to be going to the visitors.

Stogumber won the toss and batted first and were soon in trouble, losing both openers with only five on the board.

But then Andy Fish, making his first appearance in the league for Stogumber, and Rod Price pulled Stogumber back into the game with a solid partnership of 45.

Brompton fought back and claimed the wickets of Price and Adrian Hill and when Fish was dismissed after an exquisite innings of 77 the game was evenly balanced.

Then the youngsters of Stogumber came to the fore as Daniel Barnes, Chris Weetch and Alex Appleby put on 80 between them and Stogumber's innings closed on 233-7.

Brompton's reply started very well with over 100 on the board after 12 overs, S Norman hitting the ball to all parts of the ground.

When G Fitt fell three short of his half century Brompton looked the more likely of the teams to win with the score on 120-2.

But then the vast experience of Paul Weldon and Mostyn Symes showed as they slowed the run rate down and aided by some excellent fielding and catching, including S Norman for 62, Brompton then collapsed to be dismissed for 215.

Stogumber II: 233-7 (A Fish 77, C Weetch 36, D Barnes 23, G Fitt 2-46, R Disney 2-37).

Brompton Ralph III: 215 (S Norman 62, G Fitt 47, B Cooper 24, M Symes 5-52, P Weldon 3-55).

Points: Stogumber II 26 Brompton Ralph II 8.