BELSTONE found some early season form in their first Buckley Cup 20-over evening game against Sticklepath last week.

Batting first, Matt and Ryan Dennis, Dan Fogerty and Nazir Khan reached 25 apiece before retiring, with 14 boundaries between them. Sticklepath's opening attack of Ben McKenna-Smith and Nigel Letheren kept the run rate down to six an over up to the half way stage but the remaining ten overs of the innings piled on another hundred runs as the home side ended on 153 for two.

Sticklepath also got off to a good start with Julian Baker, Richard Tripp and McKenna-Smith retiring on 25 apiece. After ten overs the visitors were ahead of the equivalent Belstone score, having reached 65 for one. But wickets began to fall as bowlers clamped down on the run rate, with just 33 coming from the final ten overs leaving Sticklepath 55 runs short of their target.

BELSTONE contrived to lose their latest League match against fellow bottom-of-the-table side Barnstaple and Pilton, having several times looked to be batting towards victory.

After an early breakthrough when Ryan Dennis hurried one through Rodney Bowden's defences, Barnstaple's Lee Cole and Brady Saunders added 62 runs for the second wicket in 18 overs before both fell to Dan Fogerty with the score on 66, Cole for 32 to a catch in the deep by Nazir Khan and Saunders for 14 to a sharp slip catch by Matt Dennis.

Jack Popham held the rest of the innings together with a 62 minute half century, receiving support from Paul Schiller (18) and Tom Popham (16). The innings accelerated significantly towards the end of the 40 overs as Popham lifted the spin of Khan for four sixes over midwicket to dent his figures from five overs for 14 to eight overs for 50. Popham was caught by Harry Bushin off Tom Fogerty for 56, just before the innings closed on 169 for eight.

Popham's second over was a wicket maiden as Tom Fogerty guided the ball unerringly to Andrew Fewings at second slip and Phil Woods followed not long after.

The next batsmen got established with useful partnerships that took Belstone well ahead of the asking rate but all perished when well set, several to rash strokes across the line against the innocuous looking Saunders, who picked up four middle order wickets for 40 runs.

Dan Fogerty then looked to be taking Belstone towards victory until he received a ball from returning opener Schiller which kept rather low to be leg before for 32. The home team subsided tamely from 142 for six to 148 all out with eight overs remaining, to hand ten-man Barnstaple and Pilton maximum points and a win by 21 runs.