Humiliation as village side wins first derby

11:31am Thursday 8th May 2008

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Cricket: Red-faced Devizes skipper Pat Legge is already plotting revenge after village side Potterne pulled off a humiliating victory in their first ever league meeting.

Devizes, who until this season had always been in a higher league than their local rivals, collapsed to 74 all out in Saturday's Wiltshire Division opener as they chased the promoted villagers' score of 127 for six.

But Legge blamed a dodgy pitch for the embarrassing 53-run home defeat and says that local pride will be restored for Devizes when the teams next clash.

Legge said: "The result is not what we had in mind but we look forward to repaying them in the next game in a couple of months.

"There will be a truer reflection next time because our batsmen didn't apply themselves properly on that damp wicket.

"The conditions probably favoured Potterne as they have come up from a lower league and are used to playing on a poorer wicket.

"It will be a chance for our youngsters to redeem themselves."

South African Theo Pistorius hit 59 not out for Potterne, while Rikki Jackson took five Devizes wickets for 25 off 9.5 overs.

Potterne captain Graham Gaiger, whose side didn't lose a game last season as they cruised to promotion from Wiltshire Division One, was full of praise for his underdogs.

He said: "It was nice to get off to a winning start and make a bit of history in the process.

"It shows we can compete at this level but our aim is still to consolidate our place in the league."

Devizes finished bottom of the Wiltshire Division last season with just three wins all campaign but they escaped relegation due to a league restructuring.

Legge added he was unaware it was the first time they had met Potterne in the league.

He said: "I know most of the Potterne team have played for Devizes at some stage.

"But as I'm from Bournemouth and not a local lad, I didn't know the significance of the game until speaking to people afterwards.

"It would certainly be nice to play better against them in the next game than we did last time."

Meanwhile, Potterne 2nd made it a super league double for the club by beating Devizes 2nd by 70 runs in their first ever meeting on Saturday.