POTTERNE remain in the thick of the promotion hunt after a complete demolition of Chard at The Grove.

Electing to bat, the villagers amassed a mammoth 355-7 from their 50 overs, built mainly around two centuries from Wiltshire stars Neil Clark and Ed Young.

The two put on 166 for the fourth wicket, Young clubbing 139 off just 85 balls, including 15 fours and six sixes.

Skipper Clark’s 101 came in 77 deliveries and included seven fours and six sixes, as Andrew Sochon took 3-36 for the visitors.

Chard’s innings failed to last 15 overs as they were dismissed for just 52.

Dylan Higgins and Jake Roberts did the damage, Higgins taking 6-27 in seven overs and Roberts 3-22 in 7.2.

Meanwhile, after their latest defeat – an 84-run capitulation to Ilminster on Saturday – Goatacre sit just nine points above the relegation zone with eight games of the campaign remaining.

But Rigali is trying to take heart from his side’s second-half resurgence last term, where an extraordinary winning streak lifted them from the cusp of the drop to a fourth-place finish.

“It’s fair to say that at the moment it’s not the most enjoyable cricket we’ve ever played but last year we were in a similar position, where we went into halfway third from bottom and then won pretty much every game for the rest of the season and finished fourth,” he said.

“We’ve proved that it can be turned around but it’s going to take a bit of hard work and effort and more application with our batting.”

It was the batting that let Goatacre down once again at the weekend as, after restricting Ilminster to 221-9 in their 50 overs, only Ed Wilkins and Brad Dawson made any kind of meaningful contribution at the crease.

Wilkins hit 51 and Dawson made 21 but Goatacre crumbled to 137 all out, with James Thompson claiming five victims for a misery 30 runs.

Rigali added: “The only thing we can do is keep working at it and train hard, try to have some purpose to our training and try to focus on where we’re going wrong.”

FOR MORE SPORTS NEWS, REPORTS & PICTURES SEE THURSDAY'S GAZETTE & HERALD AND FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @gazsport