TEIGNMOUTH & Shaldon beat Cornwood 2nd XI by five wickets to trim their lead at the top of the C West to five points.

The Wood were 15 points clear of Ashburton at the summit in the race for the solitary promotion place out of the division.

Ashburton’s derby win over Ipplepen narrowed the gap between the top two – and Teignmouth & Shaldon are now just three more points behind in third.

Steve Edmonds (59), Matt Churchill (50) and Nick Martin (50no) all made half-centuries for second-placed Ashes in a 45-over total of 254 for five.

Back to this one and Seamus McKenna’s run of form for T&S continued with 85 in their total of 259 all out. He has made 187 runs in his last three trips to the middle.

Ruben Minnaar (24) and Harrison Linnitt (22) made runs early; McKenna and Carl Woolnough (39) rescued them after a mini collapse from 73 for two to 79 for five, then Karl Blackburn biffed 46 late in the day.

Wickets didn’t come cheaply for the Wood. Harry Woolway (4-46) fared better than most.

Cornwood’s prospects were picked apart by Ahmad Amin, who took the first two wickets to fall and returned later to grab three more for match figures of five for 58.

Stanley Baker (39) fought back after the first setbacks– as did Josh Goodliffe (26), Will Sharp (33) and Jason Hall (32) after a slump to 75 for five.

There was just too much repair work to do. Hall was the last man out with the score on 186.

Teignmouth & Shaldon are set to kickstart the month of July with a home match against eighth-placed Paignton 2nd XI, a chance to continue their surge towards the division’s summit.