IVYBRIDGE skipper Adam Huxtable didn’t mince his words following his side’s seven-wicket defeat at Bovey Tracey.

The Bridge were bowled out for 140, which Bovey knocked off with more than 16 overs to go.

Said Huxtable: “We did not bat or bowl well enough to win a game of cricket. Fair play to Bovey, who were clinical with bat and ball.”

Bovey had the added motivation of needing a win to distance themselves from the bottom two. A 32-point cushion means mission accomplished.

Huxtable’s 35 was the top score in the Ivybridge innings. He went in at 84 for six and was ninth out on 137. Best of the rest with 23 was opener Harvey Johnson.

Harry Mount (4-14) and Pete Bradley (3-31) posed problems with the ball up and down the Ivybridge order. Seb Ansley (2-21) had former Bovey team-mate Abraham Kopparambil in his collection.

Bovey lost wickets at 61, 78 and 107 on the way to a comfortable win. Opener Jake Pascoe (58no) was in at the end with Sam Taylor (17no). Mount wrapped-up an all-rounder’s performance with a run-a-ball 34 at the top.

With two games left in the season, Ivybridge sit seventh in the standings and now have eighth-placed Bridestowe & Belstone hot on their heels, just three points adrift.

Bridestowe took a huge stride towards safety when they defeated Cullompton by 62 runs in the basement battle at Millaton.

Bridestowe & Belstone were 11 points clear of Cully going into the game, and almost certainly would have gone behind them had they lost.

Bridestowe are not out of danger yet, but their now 23-point lead over Cullompton gives them a huge advantage in the survival stakes.

Captain Craig Penberthy said: “We know one more win will keep us in the division which each year is a minimum of what we want.”