STOKE Gabriel pulled off a remarkable 15-run win away to Bovey Tracey 2nd XI in their first B Division match since promotion from the C Division West last season.

Bovey Tracey appeared odds-on to win the game after dismissing Stoke Gabriel for 130.

Stoke Gabriel were looking good at 91 for three around the halfway mark with opener Abhishek Anand just out for a top score of 63. He and Mike Meech got the innings going with a stand of 68. Once Jack Tolley fell for a dozen with the score on 106 for four – a hockey shot to cover proved his undoing – Stoke collapsed in a heap.

Dan Green (2-15) took two wickets in five balls – Tolley then Liam Mair, bowled offering no shot – and what the captain started was finished off by Arren de Young with three for nine. A Stoke Gabriel win looked an unlikely prospect during the tea interval, and at 62 for two the odds were on Bovey Tracey. It was a different story at 77 for five with Sam Robbins (36) among the fallen.

Spin bowling proved Bovey’s undoing as Justin Pringle (4-21) and Kyle Lardner (2-13) worked through the middle and lower order.

Bovey’s last four wickets fell for just seven runs on the way to 115 all out.

Jake Robinson, the Stoke Gabriel captain, pinpointed one main thing that helped swing the game his side’s way.

‘Our opening partnership was the difference as Mie and Abishek applied themselves very well and waited for the bad balls,’ said Robinson. ‘The rest of our batting needs a lot of improvement.’

On the bowling performance Robinson said: ‘The attitude from everyone was incredible – the best I've seen. I thought we bowled very well all round and we have a lot of positives to take from the training we've put in.’

Green, the Bovey captain, agreed Stoke bowled well but questioned his side’s batting.

‘If we want to compete as we should be doing we need to hold ourselves accountable with the bat,’ said Green. ‘There were a lot of positives, too, which we will take on board and keep moving forward on to next week.’