In a match postponed from the previous week, Ottery St Mary entertained Chudleigh in a midweek evening meeting that proved to be another close encounter, writes Dave West.

The Otters did not start the contest well for, in the opening triple, Dave West, Del Hansen and Jamie Richardson went down 13-5.

In the second triple, John and Rose Thatcher, together with Pete Smith, were trailing, but fought back to seal a 13-10 success.

The doubles proved to be just as competitive!

In the first, Dave West and Peter Smith battled well before going down 13-8.

John and Rose Thatcher were sitting on 12 points from three ends, but couldn’t find the winning point before their opponents powered back to edge the game 13-12.

The third doubles was the last to finish as the two pairs kept swapping the lead throughout the game.

At the conclusion, the home grandfather and grandson combination of Jamie Richardson and Del Hansen, produced some great pointing to seal a 13-10 victory.

So, after two triples and three doubles, Ottery found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-2 reversal to the French-inspired Chudleigh side, but the two games won by the home team squeezed them past The Pig on the Hill and back into top spot in the Devon League with two rounds remaining in the race for the title.

Those final two games for the Otters are at home to Isca and away at Plymouth.