ON a surprisingly warm afternoon, Whitchurch entertained Ivybridge. After winning the toss, skipper Darren Chappell had no hesitation in asking the visitors to bat first.

With the youthful pace attack of Lavis and Mills bowling a tight line but without any luck as again Whitchurch failed to hold on to their early catches Ivybridge made a steady start.

With Ivybridge on 74 for 1 with 26 overs left, it looked like Whitchurch would be chasing a vast total.

The game was turned on its head by yet again a superb spell of spin bowling by Steve Bray who ripped the heart of the Ivybridge batting order.

Bray finished with figures of 5 for 31.

He bowled in tandem with the teams other spinner, Billy Elliott who also returned good figures of 2 for 30.

These two curtailed what should have been a big total to a rather moderate 161 for 8 in 46 overs.

As Whitchurch started to pursue the total they were set back with the early loss of their season?s most consistent batsman, Credicott for 14.

This brought Chris Clapham to the crease .

At the other end, Rich Hall responded with some classical ground strokes on his way to a unbeaten 51. But the day belonged to Clapham as he powered to 76 not out, sharing a partnership of 139 with Hall, Whitchurch reaching the total of 62 for the loss of only one wicket.

This enabled Whitchurch to pick up 19 points and the Championship as Exeter Civil could only draw.

The last league game of the season this Saturday is home to Exeter Civil.