PROMOTION-chasing Redlynch & Hale edged ever closer to moving out of County Division Three (north), after a tense victory over South Wilts thirds.

It was former Redlynch man Matt Truckle who was making his way through the Redlynch batting order.

The only resistance was shown by Dave Webber, striking 15 boundaries as he headed towards 80 runs.

Few could keep up with Webber and, although Will Powell (15) and Jon Powell (14) had short cameos, no one else reached double figures.

Truckle was the pick of the South Wilts attack with 3-34 as the innings closed on a plausible 182.

South Wilts were quick out of the traps as Ben Draper quickly knocked up 34 runs, despite losing several partners to Kev Hopkins (4-30).

Redlynch’s bowlers were making light work of South Wilts’ batting order, Hopkins along with Tom Emm (3-15) were making life difficult for the batsmen.

When Emm took Matt Burton for a duck, things weren’t looking great for the Lower Bemerton outfit.

However a 44-run stand for the ninth wicket had fans on the edge of their seats, with South Wilts getting ever closer to their target.

It fell to strike bowler Ben Brown to entice the big hitting Truckle into a mistake and was caught by Hopkins, giving Redlynch the win by 16 runs.

Meanwhile, Redlynch’s second and third teams didn’t fare so well, as both continued their poor run of form.

The seconds travelled to top of the table Winton.

The visitors could only clock a below-par 78 all out, with Sam Hatton’s 23 runs the only decent figure on show.

Winton made easy work of hitting their target in just 16 overs.

The thirds were also belowpar, getting all out for 110 against Paulton’s thirds.

Good performances from juniors James Benson and Guy Lucas, who both got 24 runs, helped Redlynch on their way to a beatable total.

Despite Lucas taking 2-30, Paultons reached their target in the 24th over with seven wickets to spare.