TAUNTON St Andrew’s 2nds picked up a much-needed 35 points on Saturday when they beat Cheddar by eight wickets in the Somerset League Premier Division on Saturday.

Cheddar batted first and, after making a solid start, the introduction of Luke Poole changed the innings as he took 5-27 off his nine overs to help bowl Cheddar out for 87.

Steve Jenkins (22no) and Toby Williams-Thomas (35no) made short work of the reply.

Taunton Deane 2nds’ batsmen made light of their target after bowling Frome out for 188.

R. Croker top scored for Frome with 44 as Jason Squire took 3-40 and Charlie Norman and M. Rana two wickets each.

After making a solid start, Harry Smith (42), Sam Burgess (42) and Ben Thomas (38no) saw the Deane to a seven-wicket victory.

Ashbrittle moved up to mid-table with a 30-run victory over Yeovil.

Batting first, B. Pitkin top scored with 54 with Matt Summerfield adding 42 as Ashbrittle posted 209-8.

Yeovil’s reply was dominated by opener Callum Gundry, who hit 69.

But Pitkin stemmed the flow of runs, taking 2-7 off nine and Ben Franks and T. Stone took two wickets apiece as Yeovil were all out for 179.

In Division 2, Taunton 2nds continued their poor run of form, losing by 34 runs to Purnells.

D. Redwood (53) and M. Francis (48no) were the main scorers as Purnells reached 215-6, with Lee Hart taking 3-33.

In reply, Richard Godfrey opened with a fine 60 but the innings faded away to 181 all out.

Watchet suffered another defeat in Division 3, this time by six wickets at the hands of Ilminster 2nds.

Only Matt Lovell (27) and C. Jeromson (22) looked comfortable as Watchet were dismissed for 110.

D. Bowden took 2-12 in response but Ilminster coasted to 111-4 and victory.

Huish & Langport suffered the same fate against North Newton after making only 111, D. Jarvis (27) top-scoring.

Jack Sellick’s unbeaten 57 saw the Newts over the line.

Trull maintained their early season push for a place in next season’s Division 3 with victory over Wellington 2nds.

Trull batted first and made use of the relatively small playing area to amass 248 in their 45 overs.

No-one made an overtly telling contribution with the bat, but an 88-run opening stand between Sapey (40) and Blundell (34) was a portent of things to come.

Clark (41) and latterly Goldsworthy (33no) saw that the home side had made a good score after batting first.

Jake Nichol, with two wickets, and Macaulay Campbell, with three, were Wellington second string’s successful seamers, while Rob Moysey weighed in two as well.

Wellington’s top order all got going, but their innings slid from 140-4 to 153 all out despite Trevor Brooks making 20, Mark Salter 27, Kevin Crout 29 and the in-form Ben Evett 38.

For Trull, skipper Palmer (3-17) impressed with the ball.

Elsewhere in the division, Taunton St Andrew’s A are still looking for their first win of the season after losing out by 42 runs against Uphill Castle 2nds.

Uphill hit 202-8 as Luke Bliss top scored with 69.

Martin Baldock ended with 2-32 off nine overs, while Julian Webster took 2-30 from seven.

In reply, the Saints were always struggling and only 35s from Ben Walford and Tom Bowen - who was in defiant mood from number nine - took the score to 160-9.

A FINE 78 from Curry Rivel’s Richard Yarde failed to save his side from an eight-wicket defeat against Peasedown St John.

Yarde was the dominant figure as Rivel posted 160-7, with P. Higginson contributing 27.

Only P. Stevens and M. Raffill made breakthroughs with the ball, however, and Saints opener J. Tucker was still there on 70 when they passed their target in the 25th over.

In Division 6S, Taunton 3rds suffered a 121-run defeat at the hands of Yeovil 2nds.

J. Fuller top scored with 73 but a late fightback with the ball, led by Prateek Chowdari’s 5-39, saw Taunton peg their opponents back to 223-9 at the end of their 40 overs.

Taunton’s batting was not so impressive, however, and they slumped to 102 all out.

Mark Rogers top scored with 45, but Mark Jones (24) and A. Pring (10*) were the only other batsmen to make any sort of impact in a disappointing display.

Huish & Langport 2nds’ Ian Brister (16) and Ben Robinson (16) were their only batsmen in double figures as they were skittled for 59 by North Petherton 2nds.

Tom Smith was the destroyer in chief for the visitors, taking 6-14 to dismantle the home batting line-up.

E. Stone (20*) and M. Revans (37*) ensured Pethy didn’t have to break sweat in reply as they strolled to a 10-wicket win.

Trull 2nds’ M. Wood hit a magnificent unbeaten 142 as his side beat Taunton St Andrew’s B by 75 runs in Division 7S.

D. Morrish chipped in with 30 as Trull closed on 241-5, which was always going to be a tough ask for the hosts to chase.

E. Barrett (4-55) and D. Morrish (3-13) ensured the Saints could only reach 166 all out as Trull wrapped up the win.