Wellington completed their pre-season matches for 2019 with a trip to the seaside to take on Sidmouth 2nd XI last Sunday and came away with a narrow five run loss after a spirited effort to chase down 170 to win just came up short.

Taking on a side who plays its league cricket in the middle echelons of the Devon League it was they who won the toss and opted to bat first and Wellington reduced them to 25-5 as Luke Desave, Will Derrick and Jack Beal ran amok with the ball.

Wardrop with 28 and Munday with 16 steadied matters with a sixth wicket stand of 57 which was ended by Gus Steele who made another good impact with figures of 1-13 in six overs.

Sam Wooster too gained wickets as he took 3-53 in seven overs as Sidmouth 2nd XI limped to 120-9, but there was a sting in the tail as Hurley and Fisher added 49 for the last wicket as the former struck 58 before Rob Moysey ended their fun with the penultimate ball of the innings.

Wellington’s innings began with a flurry of wickets too as the score dipped to 38-5 with Aks Latifi’s 13 and Luke Desave’s 14 been the bright spots as Clayden did much with the ball to snap up four wickets in his first spell.

Oli Beale with 14 took the score up to 60 with a decent showing with the bat, but was the sixth Wellington player to depart with over one hundred to win.

This prompted Gus Steele and Rob Moysey to add 95 glorious runs for the seventh wicket as they pushed Sidmouth’s reserves all the way in the last portion of the game.

Steele overcame a dose of cramp to make a fine 36 before been stumped late on.

Moysey made a cracking 60no and was assisted in the last throes of the game by Lewis Sparks and Sam Wooster to try and chase down the 170 needed to win, but Dibble was equal to the task and Sidmouth 2nd XI prevailed by a narrow margin.