SANDFORD Thirds secured yet another easy victory in F Division Central last Saturday, when they entertained Bovey Tracey Thirds on the second pitch at Creedy Park.

Batting first, Sandford recovered from a dodgy 53 for 3 to notch up an eventual score of 216 for 5 after their obligatory 40 overs.

The recovery was started with a fourth wicket stand of 91 between Captain for the day Rob Stoyle 78 (seven fours two sixes), and usual second team skipper Shaun Hawkins, recruited for the day as a stand-in keeper, as the twos didn't have a game, plus also a number third team players being unavailable.

Shaun eventually departed for 56 (seven fours, two sixes) with the score on 144, and then Stoyler was joined in a fifth wicket partnership of 55 by Steve “Tipper” Lyons, before Tipper was Run Out for 20 (three fours).

However, the eventual score of 216 for five was always likely to be a difficult target for their visitors to chase against a steady Sandford attack.

For Bovey, all of their early order batters “got in” to score double figures, but never managed to “go on” to get a big score. Only L.Herbert with 25 (three fours) managed to hang around for a while, but even he took 44 balls to reach that score.

In the end Bovey Thirds had reached 167 for eight when the overs ran out, and as such the Thirds secured victory by 49 runs, and in doing so secured a 19 points victory. This leaves them in fourth spot in F Division Central with three strong teams above them, so with little chance of promotion, but on the other hand they are 56 points clear of the relegation zone thankfully.

The Sandford wicket taking was led by Glyn 'Diesel' Baker 3-22 (eight) showing a nice return to form, and young 15 year old Tom Harding 3-35 (eight).

This Saturday the Thirds are away to Bideford, Littleham and Westward Ho! Seconds – one of the three teams above them – with a 1pm start.

Phil Matten