CLYST Hydon II fell well short against Sidmouth and were unable to do their first team colleagues a favour in the race to qualify from the East Devon Indoor Cricket League for the county finals, writes John Goodwin.

It was thanks to Matt Cooke, who made 52, that Sidmouth were able to set any sort of challenging total - they made 104, lasting only 10.2 overs.

Clyst lasted one ball fewer as they were dismissed for 59, Nick Mansfield and Charlie Miles both taking 2-12. Josh Bess, one of the stars of Devon’s Minor Counties championship win in the summer, found the indoor game difficult to come to terms with – he made five when batting and then sent down one over littered with wides and no-balls for 13.

?Clyst’s first team won by 43 runs against Clyst St George, but crucially did not take all their opposition’s wickets.

The bulk of Clyst Hydon’s 135 all out came from the consistently prolific Ian Sutton, with 54, and Graham Trude, with 26.

Sidmouth and Clyst Hydon have equal points as the cut-off point for county qualification nears.

Oz Besley and Phil Laverick were not out with 29 and 21 respectively in Clyst St George’s 92-4.

?Ottery St Mary put together a winning 126-5 against Newton St Cyres, Alex Clements making an unbeaten 46 and James Faulkner 20. St Cyres never got to grips with the asking rate and finished on 72-4.

?Last man Dave Goldthorpe’s 16 saved Newton Poppleford from complete humiliation against Yarcombe and Stockland who made 112 with 54 from James Mitcham.

Goldthorpe, who had taken three of the Yarcombe wickets, came to the crease with six the best score from his predecessors who had succumbed to the bowling of Joe Parkinson taking 4-9. Goldthorpe’s eventual demise saw Newton Poppleford all out for 41 in eight overs.