CARRYING on with the musical analogy started last week they say ”it ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings”! This may be true but she is certainly beginning to lose her voice.

As Sandford have hit a decent run of form so has one of their closest rivals, Bradninch. This has coincided with Hatherleigh losing to their two closest rivals and they are now firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.

Having managed to win three games in a row Sandford still find themselves 20 points off safety with three games of the season to play.

These three fixtures are against a side whom they lost narrowly to by only five runs but are also against two sides who soundly defeated Sandford by eight and nine wickets respectively.

The truth is that two of these matches have to be won and yet this still might not be enough for the side to avoid relegation.

It is interesting to note that all three sides at the bottom have to play Plymouth so probably the two which perform the best will prevail.

What the second half of the season has shown is that with good player availability both captains are able to get good cricket out of their sides. It is a shame the players found this out possibly too late in the season.

Last weekend saw the First Eleven travel to Instow to take on a North Devon side that has secured the safety of mid table.

In a rain-affected match Sandford batted first and scored 204 for eight.

With the Second Eleven fixture falling foul to the weather many of the club members were able to watch the match live on “You Tube” as the Instow ground has a live stream.

It was pleasing to watch the aggressive hitting of Chris Simpson who scored 32 off only 14 balls (was he really LBW!) and Chris Jelley 22 off only 13 as the middle order batsmen went for the acceleration needed after a rain delay.

Richard Foan (40) and Freddie Filor (31) had once again got the innings off to a solid start. It was then really interesting to watch the North Devon side reply who just did not seem interested in any sort of run chase at all.

With a revised target of 223 in 33 overs they limped to 116 for eight.

Richard Foan took three wickets and there were two apiece for Faisal Iqbal and Jamie Palmer.

Third win in a row secured and next up Exmouth at home

Fixtures this weekend at Creedy Park:

Saturday, August 18, First Eleven v Exmouth, 12.30pm start.

Sunday, August 19, First Eleven v North Devon, 1.30pm start.

Mike Canning