ST AUSTELL are the new leaders of the Bond Timber Cornwall Premier League following dramatic events both on and off the field, as the midway point of the season is reached in the top flight, writes Michael Weeks.

They beat Penzance at Wheal Eliza in a remarkable game by two wickets.

Penzance elected to bat and immediately lost Chris Gibson, Ryan Edwards, Owais Shah and Christian Purchase at 8-4 in the sixth over. Jack Paull followed at 21-5 in the ninth with Liam Watson (3-28) and Adam Snowdon (2-21) doing the damage.

The innings was rescued thanks to Kian Burns (62) with good support from Giles Lawrence (33) and Glyn Furnival (27). Steve Raven with three wickets wrapped up the tail at 167 all out in the 47th over.

The Bones, Mike (25) and Alex (32), got the home side to 84-2 before wickets tumbled and at 109-7, there was plenty to do.

Gary Bone (27no) found an ideal partner in Snowdon who hit 32 before being dismissed with 10 required off 11 balls.

That came down to eight off the last over. Gary Bone hit the first ball for a boundary. A wide levelled the scores before Bone hit the winning boundary off the penultimate ball.

To add to the Penzance woes, they have accepted a statutory five-point deduction this week for inadvertently playing an unregistered player in the game at Wadebridge when Ben Seabrook was withdrawn after the toss, having suffered an eye injury in the warm-up.

That means Wadebridge are up to second with just two points separating the top three, who have all lost three games.

Werrington’s Mark Taskis was run out by inches by Kelvin Snell’s throw attempting a two off the final ball to tie the match against Wadebridge.

Kevin Renecke (72) and Matt Robins (56) put on 119 for Wadebridge's first wicket on their way to 219. Sam Hockin opened with a quickfire 48 and Ben Smeeth made 42 in the Werrington reply.

Ahead of his county debut, left-arm spinner Matt Lawrence only conceded 22 runs in 10 overs.

It was just as dramatic at the foot of the table with the bottom two clubs, Callington and Hayle, both winning.

Callington and Hampshire’s Ian Holland made an impact at Camborne, removing opener Lewis Goldsworthy, top scorer 17-year-old Alfie Macdonald (ahead of his county debut) and the tail end with 5-19 from ten overs.

Ryan Brown (31) and Liam Lindsay (33) eased Callington to an eight-wicket victory, reaching the 76 target before half past five.

It was just as comfortable for Hayle at the Towans as they beat St Just by 80 runs and following the win at St Austell recorded back-to-back victories.

Sam Mycock (42) and Tom Sharp (43) led the home side to 194 with Max Waller wrapping up the tail with 4-39. Only Nic Whitelaw (45) offered much in the 114 all out in the 43rd over. Matt Jacka took 4-26.

It leaves St Just 17 points off the bottom following a third successive defeat.

Reduth moved above Helston to fourth following a six-wicket win at Beacon Parc. Helston were restricted to 167-9 with Karl Leathley making 47 ahead of his county recall and skipper Steve Jenkin 35 not out.

The Reds were seen home thanks to an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 71 between Jack Hale (45no) and Ellis Whiteford (46no). 

On Sunday, Penzance won through to the ECB National Club Championship quarter-finals in the most dramatic of fashions at Potterne, near Devizes.

The ‘compact’ ground at the Grove saw no fewer than a remarkable 33 sixes hit on the day. The home side managed 14 in their 294-7 with opener Thomas Cullen making 139 not out. The last seven overs added 109 runs.

Not to be outdone, the Penzance batters made hay and got to 201-2 with Jack Paull (47), Ben Seabrook (88) and Christian Purchase (seven sixes in his 57).

Greg Smith’s unbeaten 40 saw them home by two wickets with 11 balls remaining to qualify for a home quarter-final against Teddington on July 30.

Penzance won the Vinter Cup earlier in the week for the 17th time but they didn’t have it all their way in a well-contested final at Camborne, who were making their first final appearance since 2005.

Having been restricted to 41 -2 at the halfway mark, Camborne recovered to 129-6. Dylan Kritzinger made 37 and player of the match Liam Weeks got 45, adding 69 for the fourth wicket. Tom Dinnis took 2-18 in his four overs including. a rare T20 maiden. 

Chris Gibson (30) and Ben Seabrook (20) got Penzance off to a lively start but it slipped to 81-5 in the 12th over as Camborne came back into the game when three wickets fell in the space of 10 balls.

However, Jack Paull (26no) and Jonny Ludlam (30no) kept their heads to secure a five-wicket victory with an over to spare.

Only four points cover the top three in County Division One.

Falmouth won by seven wickets at Newquay after Perran Burley took 4-13 to bowl the hosts out for 103.

Former Worcestershire and Lancashire batter Ryan Driver returned to Truro and contributed 26 to the 204 at Roche.

Charlie Kent made 51 at the top of the order but the home side fought back to take the last six wickets for 27 runs. Having been 151-9 James Hunkin (63no) and Stewart May ended seven short of victory with three balls remaining.

Paul maintained their challenge by beating Grampound Road by five wickets at Hutchens Park with Andrew Snell making 81.

Beacon beat understrength Penzance seconds at St Clare by 156 runs with fifties for Jordan Thomas, Steve Wiseman and Ian Chatfield.

Kyle Van Royen took 6-39 to bowl St Erme to a five-wicket win over Mullion at the Castle Field. Jack Evans made 69 in the run chase.

Lanhydrock’s survival hopes suffered a blow with a 55-run defeat at Redruth seconds, for whom Callum Davis (79) and Toby Stoddard (75) were in the runs.

In a rescheduled game at Newquay on Sunday, Lanhydrock lost by 42 runs with Joe Crane getting 57 for the home side in their 227-9.