SANDFORD Thirds made the trip to F Division Central favourites North Molton last Saturday, and returned with a five-wicket loss, as North Molton chased down what looked like a decent score by the Sandford boys.

Batting first, Sandford progressed well to 142 for two with veteran Mike Wilkinson 66 (seven fours), skipper Alex Stevens 29 (six fours) and Vice Captain Rob Stoyle 27 (six fours), getting them into that position. However, 142 for two soon became 154 for five, and it was only when Colin Blick 33 (five fours) joined Wilkinson that the scoreboard starting ticking again.

However, 210 for six when Blick was out, saw another mini collapse, as the remaining batters, including Wilko, could not make any further impact, and the innings petered out at 222 for nine after their allotted 40 overs.

For North Molton J.Alexander 4-34 (eight) and L.Roberts 3-32 (eight) did most of the damage for the home team.

North Molton's batters are something to behold in this division, and so it proved. Opener James Tapp 21 (four fours) set the scoreboard rolling, but his dismissal brought in the experienced Toby Lochhead, a former Sandford player, to join an even more experienced former Premier League player Rob Ayre.

Together they added 53 for the second wicket at which point Lochhead departed for a quickfire 37 from only 37 balls (seven fours), and with Ayre cruising annoyingly along, he was then joined by the hard-hitting L.Hough. And so it proved, as Hough smashed 43 from only 29 balls (four fours three sixes).

By the time Hough fell victim to Rob Stoyle the score was 163 for four, and with the backbone of the chase having been achieved, victory was only a short while coming with J.Giffard blazing 25 (three fours and a six) in a match winning stand of 56 with Ayre.

Ayre finished on 84no from 92 balls (seven fours six sixes) to guide his team home to victory at 226 for five in only 34.1 overs. However, Sandford did manage seven points despite the loss, and in doing so have proven that they can compete in this higher division following their promotion at the end of last season.

Only Rob Stoyle 2-50 (6.1) offered any real threat to the home team.

This coming Saturday the Thirds are away to Tiverton Heathcoat Thirds at Heathcoat's main ground with a 1pm start.

Phil Matten