Strong opposition and too many wides proved too much for Sidmouth 2nds last Saturday.

With their first team bolstered by several new arrivals, Exeter are currently fielding a very strong 2nd XI, with their bowling line up in particular looking the match of many Premier first teams.

Exeter were invited to bat first and Sidmouth skipper Nick Gingell saw some tidy nine over spells from his trio of forty-somethings in Charlie Dibble (2-18), Miles Dalton (2-24) and Fionn Wardrop (1-19) led to Exeter limping to 89-6 with three-quarters of their 45-over allocation taken.

Dibble was the pick of the bowling effort and took an especially good caught and bowled to dismiss Tom Richardson, sparing son Anthony’s blushes as he had dropped Richardson a few balls previously!

The Exeter tail wagged sufficiently for the closing total to be 181-9.

There were a charitable 31 extra’s in the Exeter score with 25 of them wides!

The Sidmouth run chase was hit by early setbacks as four wickets fell before double figures appeared on the board!

Will Gater (20) briefly threatened to revive the innings, but when he and the skipper were removed the total stood at 55-6.

Teenagers Dec Lines (19) and Anthony Dibble (21) dug in to good effect and added a battling 35, providing the most profitable Sidmouth partnership of the match.

However, Dibble’s departure hastened the end of the game. Lines was next to go and, despite a fine knock of 26 from Fionn Wardrop, the final wicket fell at 125 to consign Sidmouth to a 56-run defeat.