CLYST Hydon took pole position to qualify from the East Devon Indoor League for the Devon championship with a comfortable win over Sidmouth.

The two sides were the only unbeaten sides in the competition, but the villagers took hold of Sunday’s game with a tight bowling performance which restricted Sidmouth to 104-3.

Clyst Hydon sent down a host of dot balls and, when Anthony Griffiths tried to break the shackles, he was miraculously caught one-handed by Graham Trude as the ball ricocheted off the roof. Fionn Wardrop was the only Sidmouth player to reach the retirement score of 25.

Ian Sutton and Simon Holmes gave Clyst Hydon a good start to the chase with 14 off the first over. From then on they were always ahead of the rate, Sutton making 26 and Trude 27. Victory was achieved with three wickets down off the first ball of the penultimate over.

Honiton and Yarcombe & Stockland played out the first tie of the season, both sides making 119. Honiton’s first three batsmen, A Holmes, J Dixon, and R Ingram, all reached 25 to set them on their way to 119-0.

Yarcombe were up against it until J Mitcham and N Fuzzard got together for an unbroken fifth wicket stand. Mitcham made 36 and Fuzzard 15, the former hitting 11 off the final over to level the scores. Yarcombe’s innings was made up entirely of boundaries and singles.

Newton Poppleford never got to terms with the run rate required to overhaul Tipton St John’s 130-2 and father and son Kenny and Tom Clay were at the crease as they closed on 103-4. Tom joined his father when he returned to the crease after making 25 at the top of the order.

Tipton’s runs came from Dickie Dawson and J Quick, who both reached 30 not out in their second visits to the wicket, and Kevin Jones with 26 not out.

Ottery St Mary breezed to a five-wicket win over Newton St Cyres who posted a total of 109.