Shrubbery Hotel Somerset League
Premier Division
Shapwick & Polden 2nds 251-7 beat Burnham-on-Sea 149 by 102 runs

BURNHAM-ON-SEA’s tough Premier Division season came to a close on Saturday, as they lost by 102 runs against Shapwick & Polden 2nd XI.

Hosts Shapwick elected to bat first, and despite Brad House running out Jacques Luckins (9), the runs were soon piling on, thanks to Will Rudge (61) and Tom Smith (55).

Both batsment were eventually removed by Andy Birkett (3-40 off nine overs), who also accounted for Dan Rudge (10).

Peter Harris (1-25 off nine) clean bowled James Haggett (3), but Shapwick’s middle order made a solid contribution, Steven Spencer adding 19, Paul Lang 22 and Rob Travers 30no.

And so, despite both Paul Grant (1-50 off nine) and Ollie Farnham (1-72 off seven) making breakthroughs, the home side posted a healthy total of 251-7 from their 45 overs.

The reply began well enough, as openers Harris and Dave Worthington made their way to 22 and 14, respectively.

Even when they fell to Callum Harvey (2-28 off nine) and Spencer (1-7 off five), Rob Driver (40) and House (22) kept Burnham moving in the right direction.

Harvey bowled House, with Lee Coles coming in to add 14, but then the collapse began as Josh Luckins tore through the visitors’ batting order.

He accounted for both Driver and Coles, and then went on to claim three more victims on his way to figures of 5-13 off just 4.2 overs, aided by Rob Travers’ 2-19 off seven.

As a result, only Grant (8), Jim Bloodworth (1) and Birkett (1no) managed to trouble the scorers, as Burnham subsided to 149 all out in 36.2 overs.

The visitors took eight points from the match to end up with 199 for the season, leaving them 96 points adrift of the Premier Division’s second-bottom team, Winscombe.

With only one win and two draws from 16 matches, it’s certainly been a tough ride for Burnham.

A drop down into Division 2 for the 2019 season should come as some relief, as they will be better matched against less potent teams.

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LYMPSHAM & Belvedere ended up fourth in Division 3 of the Somerset League, following a 106-run defeat at runaway champions Trull on Saturday.

The home side batted first, but were frustrated by opening spells from Sam McCrea (0-22) and Andy Taylor (2-17), the latter removing both openers.

The middle order came good for Trull, Andy Sapey top scoring with 42, though Jack Neville (2-32) helped restrict the hosts to 175-7.

That looked a gettable target, and Jack Luff (29) and Nathan Hancock (10) took the away side to 44-2, but then Greg Walters (6-5) initiated a collapse.

Lympsham could not cope with the extra bounce offered by the pitch, and were all out for 69 inside 20 overs.

Huntspill & District claimed two wins over the weekend to place fifth in Division 4's final standings.

Saturday saw them ease past Kilmington & Stourton by nine wickets, Matt Osmant with 5-13 off 5.5 in the visitors’ 159 all out.

Sam Lillycrop hit 106no in reply.

And on Sunday North Perrott 2nds were beaten by six wickets, despite George Johnson’s 112no in the visitors’ 273-7 (Jake Randall 3-57).

It looked a tough chase, but Steve Eley (65), Randall (66no) and Osmant (56no) saw their side to the finish line in 33.1 overs.