Saturday was a day of firsts for Topsham St James 2nd XI as it was the first time that they had faced a team from Filleigh Cricket Club at this level.

It was also the first time that Brian Jeary was leading the team, Dan Armstrong was playing his first match of the season, Under-15 player James Mattin and Bridget Culver were playing their first Devon Cricket League matches for the Club and Jonathan Hull his first competitive game for the Club!

The skipper lost the toss and the visitors opted to bat. The Saints used five bowlers to great effect taking wickets at regular intervals with the Filleigh innings closing on 116-9.

Rudi Ellis bowled superbly returning the exemplary figures of 3-14 from nine overs; he also celebrated in the days before the game the birth of his daughter Emily.

He was very well supported by Jonathan Hull (3-18), Dan Armstrong (2-14) and James Mattin (1-39).

The successful run chase was led by Neil Argyle who top scored with an unbeaten 38 with the best of the support coming from Mike Davison (31) and Jonathan Hull (24), all resulting in a home victory by six wickets.

Credit must also be given to the Filleigh team which contained the usual mix of seasoned campaigners and promising youngsters. They played the game in the right manner and were sporting in defeat.