LEAGUE leaders Thornbury suffered their first defeat of the season as second-placed Taunton Dean won a thrilling top of the table clash.

Thornbury elected to bat having done so successfully already this season. But the positive move back-fired with three wickets falling in the first five overs, and when Kanishka was caught for 18 Thornbury were in massive trouble at 30-4. Captain Trotman (87) and Stephen Caple (14) steadied the innings with gutsy play on the unpredictable pitch and after stubborn resistance, Caple was caught superbly at cover. Blakemore (45) then entered the wicket and shared a 90-run partnership in around 15 overs that brought Thornbury to 180-5 with six overs remaining. However Blakemore was unfortunately bowled after various ricochets and then the Thornbury tail collapsed to 198 all out.

Thornbury didn’t get into their rhythm with both opening bowlers Stephens and Trotman not causing any problems. A superb run out by Rich Wild did little to spark an immediate reaction from Thornbury but the introduction of the Blakemore family at either end tied down the batsmen. Younger namesake Curtis took three of the top four to leave Taunton on 81-4. A solid partnership then looked to have batted Thornbury out of the game, until Louis Blackwell enticed a run down the wicket for an easy stumping to turn the game on its head. Thornbury suddenly felt an opportunity may have arisen and the re-introduction of speedster Anthony Ireland changed the score from 166-4 to 190-8. Thornbury could not take the final two wickets but can be very proud of their persistence and courage to fight back in such a way.