Axminster suffered a blow in their bid to stay in the Tolchards Devon League B Division when they went down by a margin of just 20-runs to bottom of the table Braunton.
The visitors batted first and the home bowlers were on top throughout, ultimately dismissing the North Devon side for 142 with Ben Fuzzard claiming 3-16, Dave Field spinning his way to 3-14 and Nick Taylor picking up a brace of wickets for 22 runs.
In the post tea session batting proved to be just as difficult as was underlined by the top home score being just 23 (Braunton’s top score was 73), scored by skipper Paul Miller. Ben Fuzzard got the best of the rest with 19 and Dan Fuzzard chipped in with 18.
With 100 points to play for across the remaining five matches Axminster currently sit six points clear of the drop spots.
On Saturday they entertain third place Chudleigh. With the two teams immediately below them clashing it looks like the Axe men will need to bank a decent sum of points from the Chudleigh game if they are to avoid being dragged further into the relegation scrap.
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