POTTERNE captain Neil Clark has hailed a ‘vital’ win in their battle to beat the drop from Premier One after stunning in-form Clevedon.

The hosts had only lost two games heading into the weekend, sitting second in the table, while in contrast, Potterne have been indifferent, sitting just above the drop zone.

Potterne’s 127-run victory still leaves them just two points above the bottom two but, with only 10 points separating them and fourth-placed Downend, Clark has a brighter outlook.

“It was certainly needed,” he said.

“To go and beat Clevedon, who have only lost two games all year, it was a great performance and it has been a long time coming.

“For whatever reason, none of us have individually performed this season. There is not one player I can think of individually who has played to their potential.

“The last six or seven years we have been used to winning and having success and this year it has not quite gone our way and we have got to find a way to get out of it.”

Openers Thomas Cullen and Basil Akram set the steady pace early on for the visitors as they made a first-wicket stand of 118 before Akram (66 off 120 balls) was run out.

Cullen eventually went for 75 off 109 deliveries from the bowling of Masoor Khan with the score at 183-4 and while the team could only add 25 more to that total, Clark was confident they could defend a target of 209.

“It was a tough wicket early on and we knew if we lost early wickets, it was going to be hard later on,” he explained.

“We just tried to build a partnership and we did that.

“I thought we ended up being 30 runs shorter than we should have been but I thought 210 was a good score.”

Despite Akram suffering an injury, Josh De Souza stepped up for Potterne with the ball, with figures of 17-4, as the hosts were skittled for just 81.

“We bowled superbly well,” added Clark.

“Basil got injured early on and Josh stuck his hand up to say, ‘I’ll bowl,’ and ended up getting four wickets.

“Fair play to him, he did really well.”

Now Clark turns his attentions to a battle with second-from-bottom Frocester, knowing another victory could all but seal their Premier One fate.

“We’ve got Frocester and Corsham in the next two games so, if we win next week, I’m sure we’ll be alright, but we have to see how it goes,” he said.

“Any team can beat anyone on their day and that’s what has been happening all year and it is so close.

“It’s in our hands and if we win, we should be fine.”

Meanwhile, Corsham sit 37 points adrift at the foot of the table following their four-wicket defeat to Bedminster.