Saltash hammered another nail in the Boconnoc relegation coffin as they proved far too strong, winning by 144 runs. Saltash openers Ross Braund and Richard Durndell put on 76 for the first wicket, Durndell in particular taking advantage of some wayward bowling and some curious field placings.

Braund eventually tickled a catch to keeper Hemmings off Farey which brought Ian Stevenson to the wicket who, after a couple of sighters, deposited Heap for a straight six to get off the mark. Having witnessed Stevenson taking them apart the previous week, the fielders spread far and wide which allowed him to pick up singles at will but curtailed the flow of boundaries.

Durndell completed yet another 50, his 10th this season to move past 800 runs before he received a 'popper' from the unpredictable pitch which deflected off his glove to slip. Paul Marshall soon followed, paying the price for a risky call to Piper at mid-off and when Skinner mistimed a pull shot to mid-wicket, the Saltash innings had lost some of its impetus.

Farey, meanwhile, had completed an excellent spell, conceding just 20 runs from his allotted 16 overs, but the support bowling proved expensive. Bryan Gould and Stevenson decided it was time to open up as he hit Piper for five successive boundaries to bring up the 200 before falling to a catch in the deep, well taken by Kingsley, for a well-paced 76. Mark Keen smashed 17 from the final over as Saltash finished on 229 for seven.

The good news for Boconnoc was that last week's tormentor with the ball, Paul Terry, was not in the Saltash line-up. However, the bad news was that pace bowler Paul Marshall was fit again and steaming in, eager to make up for lost time.

Marshall ripped through the top order to reduce Boconnoc to 16 for five. Hemmings was beaten for pace, Trankle the victim of an excellent catch by Pete Ogley and Clemens and Piper waved the white flag as they were dismissed in successive balls. Lee came out to face the hat-trick ball trembling at the crease, a nervous prod sent the ball towards Rob Batten at short mid-on but despite a valiant effort, it would not stick and Lee survived.

Marshall then decided not to risk aggravating the shin injury which has plagued him for the last month, allowing Ogley the chance to briefly demonstrate his rarely-seen left arm spin before Saltash's other pace bowler, Nick Carpenter, changed ends to try and end his recent barren spell. This change worked as he broke a developing partnership between Sleep and Lee thanks to a fine catch by Marshall.

Sleep decided to attack Gould as he was rapidly running out of partners, which forced leading wicket taker Braund into the attack and he soon added to his season's haul when he accepted a return catch offered by Farey and then knocked over Heap's stumps two balls later. Carpenter had the final word dismissing the valiant Sleep who was the only Boconnoc batsmen to reach double figures as Saltash claimed another 20 points to keep their outside hopes of promotion alive.

Scores - Saltash 229-7 (R Braund 19; R Durndell 59; I Stevenson 76;; B Gould 13; N Carpenter 13; M Keen 17; Extras 23; D Lee 1-60; M Farey 3-20; A Runnalls 2-20). Boconnoc 85 (J Sleep 39; Extras 29; P Marshall 4-9; R Braund 2-5; N Carpenter 3-29).

Saltash (20) bt Boconnoc (40) by 144 runs.