MINEHEAD continued their fine form in the Somerset League Premier Division on Saturday when they beat fellow promotion chasers Cheddar by four wickets at home to stay top of the table.

The visitors won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bat on a typically flat Minehead wicket, but opening bowlers Dan Bowditch and Ellis Taylor bowled accurately early on to restrict openers Callow and F Mehlig to very few scoring opportunities.

That, coupled with some good fielding, piled the pressure on the pair until Bowditch (1-20) made the breakthrough, having Mehlig caught for just 1 at mid-off.

Further pressure followed as Jay Darrell and Ian Buchanan were brought into the attack and both Callow (31) and Sims (20) were run out in the space of five overs by Matt Sully and Braden Taylor.

The Cheddar middle order set about trying to recover from a precarious position but further wickets for Buchanan (2-41) and Brad Martin (1-38) meant they were always going to be short of the par score.

And when Darrell returned to sweep up the tail and finish with season-best figures of 4-21, the visitors were all out for 162 from 40 overs.

The Minehead reply got of to the typical start with Buchanan playing the aggressor and captain Andrew Stevens happy to rotate the strike from the other end.

The score had reached 55 when Buchanan, whose 43 included ten fours, holed out to long off to give the visitors the much-needed breakthrough they were searching for.

After another quick wicket, that of Braden Taylor without troubling the scorers, the previous week’s hero Freddie Wilson joined his captain and wasted little time selecting top gear as he dispatched Clark for two sixes in successive overs.

He made a rapid 30 before being dismissed and Alastair Harrison (0) and Bowditch (1) also came and went as Cheddar rallied, not wanting to give up on an unlikely victory.

That wasn’t to be however, as the ever-reliable Matt Sully quickly adjusted to conditions and with a handful of boundaries took his team to within one run of victory before being bowled for 39 trying to finish the game with a flamboyant shot.

Martin had the pleasure of striking his first ball for four to clinch victory and maximum points with more than 11 overs to spare, Stevens carrying his bat to finish on 33 off 90 deliveries.

Minehead travel to bottom side Bagborough tomorrow (Saturday) hoping to stretch their lead over the chasing pack.