Sidmouth 2nds mirrored the clubs senior side in as much as they too lost their first Francis Clark Devon League match of the season when they were beaten by Exeter 2nds.

Winning the toss in perfect conditions, Sidmouth captain Charlie Dibble chose to bat first and sent Matt Hewer and Saj Patidar to the middle.

Hewer registered a rare failure, making only seven and Patidar, who had looked set to capitalise on a sound start, surprisingly holed out at cover point having made 25.

The Powell brothers, Robbie and Dan, made good inroads and added a mature partnership of 40 before Exeter’s pressure told and the former ran down the wicket to spinner Steve Milne and missed a straight one. Dec Lines followed soon afterwards, unfortunate to be run out in a mix up and Dan Powell was joined by Fionn Wardrop.

This pair added a further 40 before Powell was removed on 49, the unfortunate victim of a contentious leg side catch.

Wardrop holed out for 26 and Chris Collings was bowled for two in the search for an increased run rate and only some excellent running from Nick Mansfield, Alastair Bartlett and George House enabled a below-par total of 185 to be posted.

In reply, Sidmouth’s new opening pair of Nick Mansfield and Alastair Bartlett produced a good spell removing the dangerous opening pair of Mike Wilkinson and Sean Langford cheaply.

Bartlett, in particular, bowled extremely well on his 2nd team debut and when, with the score on 55, he bowled Alec Bosomworth with a perfect out-swinger the game was in the balance.

The visitors then settled down and added 80 for the next wicket to take the game away from the hosts.

Of some light relief was the fact that the six points Sidmouth took from the match kept them top of the table.

Tomorrow the side are again at home when they entertain Plymouth II.