SATURDAY saw Minehead First XI take the short trip along the A358 to take on table toppers Taunton Deane Second XI, in a top of the table clash with The Pirates breathing down the neck of their hosts in second place.

Dan Bowditch lost the toss for the second week running, and was surprisingly asked to bat first by his opposite number, with the coin landing on a firm looking wicket under sunny skies.

The returning Freddie Wilson made things look easy early on, launching a huge six out of the ground over midwicket in just the third over, with Ian Buchanan picking up some early boundaries at the other end.

However, both openers were dismissed in quick succession as Deane fought back, to leave Minehead 26-2.

This left the stalwart Andrew Stevens and skipper Dan Bowditch at the crease, who looked to drop anchor and steady the ship on what proved to be a tricky wicket, with balls shooting along the deck at regular intervals.

The pair took the score past 50 at a sluggish rate of knots, despite Bowditch launching another huge maximum out of the ground before falling for 28.

With the Pirates now 64-3, Ellis Taylor was the next man in, and he looked to be a good foil for Stevens.

Taylor hit two delightful drives down the ground for 4, before he was caught for 10.

From here on, Minehead were all at sea as wickets tumbled, apart from Andrew Stevens who reached a well-deserved half century before being caught and bowled for 52, soon after which Minehead were all out for 135.

Despite a below par score on the board Minehead believed that a strong bowling performance would give them half a chance of defending a low total.

Deane started strongly though, Jacques and Viljoen held firm and shut the door on everything that Tudball and Rucklidge threw their way in the early exchanges.

The score had reached 50 without loss before Gary Bennett had Viljoen well caught at square leg by Oliver Groves.

The Minehead bowlers had not given up hope yet, as Chris James took a superb sliding catch to remove Jessep from the bowling of Bowditch, as the scoreboard read 71-2.

Jacques batted sensibly to ensure the runs kept coming for Deane, playing straight to nullify the Minehead’s accurate bowling, while punishing anything slightly wayward to the fence.

Buchanan removed Deane skipper Cobb for 20 with his first ball which brought Jack Blackwell to the crease who hit a rapid 24 from 14 balls to take Deane to two runs shy of their target.

Despite Harry Swann accounting for Blackwell with his first ball Minehead could not prevent Deane from reaching their required total, who impressively lost only four wickets as they sailed past their target in the 27th over

This was Minehead’s first defeat of the season as a result of which they slip from second to sixth - highlighting the competitiveness of the Premier Division. They take on Castle Cary at home this week, where a full points win would see Minehead return to the top three places in the division.

As always the club is open to all spectators and visitors, with the bar open from 1pm. Please come on down to support The Pirates.