West of England Premier League
Premier 2 Bristol/Somerset
Taunton Deane 237-7 beat Shapwick & Polden 211-9 by 26 runs

SHAPWICK slipped further into the relegation dogfight after this home defeat on Saturday.

Electing to bat, Deane skipper Robert Woodman held the innings together after Fionn Hand struck with just four on the board.

Calvin Harrison (36) joined Woodman and they put on 88 to set up a big score.

Woodman top scored with 75 and Luke Williams (38) and Sam Shaikh (28no) added vital runs to make the total 237-7.

Joe Mason and Wayne Spencer took two wickets apiece.

Shapwick skipper Stephen Tinnion (12) and Sam Edmunds (43) opened up with 30 but, from there on, wickets fell regularly as each of the Deane’s bowlers claimed success.

The biggest stand was 39 between Fionn Hand (14) and Wayne Spencer (33) but Shohel Rana (2-27 off 10) becalmed the middle order and Shapwick were always chasing the result.

Nos 10 and 11, Harry Woolway (20no) and Joe Mason (14no) rallied with a 35-run last wicket stand but they fell well short of their target.

Shapwick are now only five points ahead of bottom club Taunton, who beat Weston.

In the final round of matches on Saturday, Shapwick travel to second-from-bottom Keynsham and Taunton face a tough visit to second-placed Ilminster.

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WEPL Somerset Division
Wembdon 87-3 beat Frome 86 by 7 wkts

WEMBDON, in their final home fixture of the season, earned a vital seven-wicket victory over second-placed Frome on Saturday.

Having not been in a relegation position all season, Wembdon have had a poor run of results and, with two games remaining, were looking over their shoulder as Uphill Castle claimed three wins in recent weeks to close the gap.

It was a must-win game for Wembdon and, most importantly, about accumulating as many points as possible to increase the gap to the dropzone.

Captain Jon Brockwell won the toss and elected to bowl first – a decision made to maximise the chance of picking up points.

Pope and Brockwell bowled well but Frome’s Lett and Sanger looked untroubled; after 15 overs, they had reached 59 without loss.

Brockwell got the important breakthrough as Lett (32) cut the ball to gully, with Puddy holding on to a sharp catch.

This breakthrough opened the floodgates and Wembdon would take 10 wickets for 27 runs from 19 overs, in a quite remarkable turnaround.

Brockwell bowled his 10 overs for a miserly 11 runs, including six maidens; Pope clean bowled Sanger for 25 in his final over.

Sellick struck twice in his spell of 7-4-6-2.

Henry took the prized wicket of R. Crocker, caught behind by T. Brooks.

Henry claimed six wickets from his 7.2 overs, conceding just nine – the best figures of any Wembdon player since moving to The Green in 2017; Frome had gone from 59-0 to 86 all out.

In Wembdon’s reply, Pope took two boundaries from Crocker’s opening over.

He made a quickfire 13 from 10 balls, then Puddy joined Brooks and added 35.

With Puddy on 15 he was trapped lbw, bringing Brockwell to the crease.

He struck four 4s and a 6 in his innings of 26 from 31 balls but, with the scores level and Wembdon requiring one run for victory, Brockwell picked out Barton at mid off.

However, the next ball was missed by both batter and wicket-keeper for Lowe and Brooks (17*) to scamper through for a single to claim the win.

Match sponsors: Adam Reading Wealth Management and Hatch Beauchamp Garage.

Victory for Uphill Castle means Wembdon sit 12 points ahead going in to the final round.

Wembdon travel to Chard, while Uphill go to newly-crowned divisional champions North Perrott.

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WEPL Somerset Division
Chard 236-3 beat North Petherton 219 by 17 runs

WITH little at stake, these two sides produced an entertaining match at Heathfield Park on Saturday.

Electing to bat first, Chard openers Harvey Dening (24) and Nathan Johnson (31) produced a solid opening.

Once they had gone, the stage was taken by Pete Moxon. he hit a fine, unbeaten 111 to push Chard over the 200-mark.

Chris Scott added 30 as Pethy’s bowlers toiled in the sun with little reward and Chard closed on 236-3.

Ben Meek was the pick of the bowlers, ending with 1-31 off 10.

Pethy’s reply began in positive mood with Lewis Irish striking a fine 46 and Max Trevarthan adding 22.

When they were out, Ryan Meppem took up the challenge and, while he was at the crease, a victory looked on.

Paul Short added 22 but Dening trapped Meppem for 69 and the challenge petered out as Akhona Mbanga returned to take 3-45.