Chipping Sodbury claimed a comfortable victory over Congresbury to go to the top of the table for the first time this season.

Sodbury skipper James Rendell lost the toss and his side were asked to bat first on a damp track.

They were soon in trouble as Jerry Swatton fell for one and he was soon followed by Jamie Wakefield (10), Rendell (12) and Kris Davis (3).

However, opener Rich Howell was still at the crease and he found a useful ally in Craig Scully.

The pair shared a century stand before Scully was run out for 33.

Howell then single handedly took the attack to the home side and reached his second century in four games.

It was a fantastic rearguard knock as he held the Sodbury innings together. He was eventually stumped for 101.

Congresbury got off to a similarly disastrous start with Jay Penfold picking up an early wicket and a run out not aiding the home side’s cause.

A third wicket partnership of 59 steadied the innings and at 70-2 the game was evenly poised.

However, the introduction of the fiery Jon Toghill turned the game in Sodbury’s favour once more.

He ripped through the heart of Congresbury line up with the help of some impressive Sodbury catching and finished with season’s best figures of 6-48.

Jamie Rendell and Penfold then pitched in at the death with the aid of two smart stumpings from John Rendell as the home side were dismissed for 147.

WEPL Bristol & North Somerset Division 2nd XI Chipping Sodbury (273-6) beat Congresbury (41) by 232 runs

The seconds turned in a mightily impressive performance to beat Congresbury.

Sodbury batted first and were given an electric start by Nick Wake (23) and Mark Graham (40).

However, both were dismissed in quick succession and Tom Febry (0) and James Hicks (9) soon followed as Sodbury faltered at 80-4.

This bought the experienced pair of Mark Reynolds and Steve Clapp to the crease and they set about resolving the situation.

Once the rusty Clapp got his eye in the runs started to flow again and he soon passed his half-century.

This gave Reynolds the confidence to open up and he proceeded to unleash a series of masterful pulls and straight drives to also reach his fifty.

He was eventually stumped for a classy 59 which included four towering sixes.

With Clapp finishing on 91 not out the pair had shared a 180-run partnership to put Sodbury firmly in the driving seat.

A rampant Sodbury then drove their superiority home as Chris Willoughby (4-16) claimed a wicket with the first ball of the Congresbury innings.

Another soon followed for the highly promising left armer before skipper Aid Forrester (4-14) got in on the act.

With the help of the immaculate Paul Crabtree behind the stumps, Forrester picked up four wickets.

He then turned provider as Willoughby enticed two more of the visitors to edge simple catches to the skipper.

Rich Wood then entered the fray to finish the rout with the final two wickets.

Congresbury were all out in the 16th over to give Sodbury seconds their largest ever winning margin.

Bristol & District Cricket 2nd XI Senior Division Chipping Sodbury 3rd XI (120-4) beat Almondsbury 2nd XI (119) by six wickets

In a local derby, Chipping Sodbury ran out comfortable winners over Almondsbury.

Sodbury bowled first and the visitors were under pressure immediately as Jack Philpott produced an aggressive spell to claim 3-30.

However, he was upstaged once more by the increasingly lethal Ross Granger.

He picked up his third five wicket haul of the season as he finished with figures of 6-39.

Sodbury lost Jeff Long (11) and Steve Doidge (17) early to give the visitors some hope.

However. these were dashed as Chris Young produced a fine captain’s innings to smash his way to 65 not out and guiding his side home with plenty of overs to spare.

Bristol & District Cricket League ‘A’ XI Division One Bristol Pakistanis 3rd XI (163-9) beat Chipping Sodbury 4th XI (162) by one wicket

a thrilling encounter saw Chipping Sodbury lose by one wicket against a strong Bristol Pakistanis team.

Sodbury batted first and whilst several batsmen made good starts only Rich Deane (41) was able to produce a decent score.

Adam Febry (21) and Craig Hambly (27) also made meaningful contributions but were unable to push on as Sodbury faltered to 162 all out.

They got off to a great start in the field, picking up early wickets through the effervescent Tony Garton (3-34) and the aggressive Darren Bell (2-30).

However, the home side manged to keep themselves in the game with some big hitting and the last pair were able to hold their nerve to break Sodbury hearts.

Bristol & District Cricket League ‘A’ XI Division Two Chipping Sodbury 5th XI (104) lost to Bradley Stoke 3rd XI (105-7) by three wickets

Chipping Sodbury put up a brave fight against Bradley Stoke but paid the price for a below par batting performance to lose out by three wickets.

Sodbury batted first and could only muster 104.

They were indebted to the in-form Dave Marshall (37) and a mature innings from skipper Jamie Pearson (14).

Sodbury’s bowlers put in a valiant effort to turn things around with Dave Harvey proving to be the chief destroyer with 4-13.

Dan Morgan (2-27) provided excellent support but the total proved too hard to defend and Bradley Stoke crept home.