MINEHEAD gained a 35-run home victory over in-form Shapwick & Polden, ending their opponents’ five-match winning run, to move up to fourth place in the Premier Division of the Somerset Cricket League

The visitors won the toss and elected to field, and openers Ian Buchanan and Andrew Stevens took the score past 50 without alarm. Stevens was the first to go with the score on 64, adjudged LBW while sweeping for 16, and number 3 Josh Hurley was soon to follow Stevens, after unluckily playing onto his stumps without scoring, as the scoreboard read 69-2.

Buchanan began to score fluently and passed 50 for the fifth time this season, before edging behind while attempting a pull shot on 65. Oliver Groves had been promoted to number 4, and made a well-constructed 20 before he was undone by the spin of Hayman, with Chris James suffering a similar fate to Hurley, chopping the ball onto his stumps for 9.

At this point the score read 121-5, with Dan Bowditch and Ellis Taylor at the crease. Taylor looked in excellent touch, playing shots all around the wicket to take Minehead’s score towards 200. Bowditch made 26 before he was caught off the bowling of Luckins with the score on 190. From here, Taylor took full control as he played his finest innings of the season, he saw the wickets of Rucklidge and Paterson fall and had some support from Tudball who scored 16 quick runs, but Taylor stood firm to ensure Minehead batted all 45 overs to reach 252, finishing 66 not out from only 60 balls – his innings containing 9 fours and 1 maximum.

Jack Luckins claimed 3-60, while Paul Kemp-King and Alex Scott both took two wickets. Josh Hayman and Jack Broughton chipped in with one apiece as Minehead reached 252-9.

Shapwick & Polden made a positive start through James Hayman, who’s aggressive 28 from just 17 balls featured three sixes. However, Minehead struck back through Dan Bowditch, who clean bowled the top three Shapwick batsman to leave them 48-3. A decisive moment in the game followed as Jacques Luckins (who scored a brilliant 131 against Minehead earlier in the season) skied a ball from Bowditch high in the air, where Chris James patiently waited for the ball to drop out of the sky, to safely pouch it at extra cover on the second attempt, Shapwick now 69-4.

Kemp-King then mounted a powerful counterattack. The Shapwick & Polden all-rounder struck six towering sixes and hitting six fours in an entertaining innings that gave his side genuine hope of chasing down the target.

Ellis Taylor kept Minehead in the game with two important wickets, the first where Scott was superbly caught by Anan Rajan at backward point, before Taylor clean bowled Captain Josh Luckins.

But the hero of the afternoon was Connor Paterson’ He first pinned Broughton LBW for 13, and clean bowled Lang in his next over for 8, and with Shapwick requiring 36 for victory with 2 wickets remaining, he picked up the huge wicket of Kemp-King for 76 after Bowditch held on the a skier at mid-wicket.

Paterson finished things off with the very next ball, as he bowled O Broughton to spark celebrations at Luttrell Way. Paterson and Bowditch the stand-out bowlers with 4 wickets apiece.

Minehead have a crucial home game against second-placed Butleigh on Saturday, August 22.