CORNWOOD have now gone five games without a win in the Tolchards DCL Premier Division – four losses and a tie – after taking an eight-wicket tanking at Tavistock.

The Wood have dropped from fourth to sixth in a table of ten with two games to go and 40 points to play for.

The 21-point gap between Cornwood and second-bottom Sidmouth should be enough to avoid getting sucked into a late relegation scrap, although it would help to beat either Exeter or Hatherleigh in their remaining matches.

Twenty-six was a significant figure for Cornwood as that’s what four of their batsmen made in a team total of 179 all out. Openers Charlie Finan and Mohsin Khan were followed by Chris Parker and Elliott Staddon into the 26 club. Noah Carlisle made 21.

Tom Clarke, Tavistock’s left-arm spinner, took five Cornwood wickets for 21 runs in 10 overs. James McGahey (3-47) chipped in.

Tavistock made a sluggish start –they were 10 for two with Elliot Hamilton and James White out – but that was just a teething problem.

Dorne (109no) and Rhys Davies (52no) knocked off the remainder while putting on 173 unbroken for the third wicket.

Elsewhere in the top-flight, Hatherleigh won by three wickets at Sandford to edge towards Premier Division safety.

Defeat effectively ended Sandford’s slim hopes of catching Paignton in the title race, unless the Queen’s Park side lose their last two games badly.

Hatherleigh, motivated by staying in the division rather than winning it, knocked off a modest 178 to win with more than six overs to go. That outcome lifted them four points out of the bottom two and inserted Plymouth in their former relegation place.

Rob Cockwill, the Hatherleigh skipper, said: “All we can do is try and put pressure on other teams and hope that’s enough to keep us up.”