With Tipton St John having lost their last five matches and neighbours Newton Poppleford having won their last nine encounters, the derby meeting between the two was only going to go one way, writes Phil Wright.

In a game sponsored by the Bowd Inn, the visitors won the toss and their opening batsmen scored freely. Isaac Thomas hit 36 off 29 balls before being well caught low down by David Thayre off David Birch. Veteran David O’Higgins surprised everyone with his agility when scooping up a catch at slip to remove Tony Cox off Mark Channon for 21 but Alex Raistrick did the damage with a 53 ball 59.

A big score looked likely with Newton Poppleford 131-3 after 21 overs, but the Tipton bowlers were able to apply the brakes. Mark Channon bowled excellently with 2-19 supported by Phil Wright 2-18 and Steve Shaw 2-22.

Richard Coombs held the visitors lower order together with 19 as his team posted 188-8.

The Tipton batsmen did not show the resilience required and most gave away their wickets apart from Dave Alford who was brilliantly caught by Alex Raistrick in the covers for 19. David Thayre top scored with 27 before being caught in the deep but other potential match winners gave their wickets away.

A cameo innings by Mark Channon with 15 at the end took the Topton score to 90 all out.

Richard Coombes with 5-22 and Ed Thomas 2-5 did the damage as Newton Poppleford won by 96 runs