Franic Clark Devon League A division

A CREDITABLE team performance gave Tavistock a winning draw against a Seaton side too reliant on its star players.

Tavistock lost an important toss and were put into bat on a wicket that was to give a good deal of assistance to the bowlers. There was both variable bounce and movement off the pitch and with the match just over six overs old Tavistock were 23-3.

John McGahey was joined by Phil Stephens at the crease; both have suffered from a lack of fortune with the bat this season and after a change in this fortune the pair punished the poorer deliveries and took the score to a more respectable 82.

Stephens departed, the third to to caught at slip, for 35, and the wickets began to fall again.

Tavistock struggled to 140-9 with 10 overs to go. The backbone of the innings, McGahey, had been bowled for an invaluable 42.

The contributions then made by Dave Jeffery and Steve Nicholson turned out to be vital. They took no unnecessary risks, put away the bad ball and actually gave Tavistock the chance to win the match. Jeffery was out in the last over for 21 and Nicholson was not out on 17.

The last wicket brought 38 runs and Tavistock reached 178 all out.

It was a good score given the start but probably 50 runs too few. The wicket had gone dead and when South African Folkus opened and started hitting the ball to all parts of the ground, 100 more would have felt insufficient.

Nicholson had the other opener Ian Payne smartly caught by Dave Manning, but it was to be the spin of Kaitiff that eventually halted the free scoring. He had Folkus brilliantly caught behind reverse sweeping, again by Manning who was eventually able to take four catches and put in an immaculate performance at the wicket.

Seaton were unable to make the most of a good start and as the runs dried up and pressure was applied, wickets fell.

Legodi bowled sharply and was unlucky to finish with just the three wickets. Nicholson and Gauler supported well. Seaton requiring just three an over for most of their innings, fell 14 runs short in the end at 165-8.

A side that relied too heavily on one or two members of its team, in the end lacked the ambition and depth to win a game they may ultimately regret drawing.