Wembdon had no hesitation in batting first on a wicket which looked full of runs at Withies Lane. Opener, Rich Gower, lost two partners in the first three overs, however, as Alex Davis and Henry Voigt claimed a wicket each.
Jon Brockwell then played a steady innings as the third wicket added 47. His dismissal by Sam Gould brought Ian Blackwell to the crease and he looked untroubled until Martin Cox struck in his first over to trap him LBW for 24.
Cox (3–28) went on to claim two more wickets in an impressive ten-over spell. Nick Pang also returned excellent figures of 2–25, claiming the wicket of Gower who ran out of patience and was stumped for 65. At 134–8, the visitors' innings looked likely to fall well short of a challenging total, but Brendan Pope and Tim Bennett had other ideas and put together an unbroken stand of 86 in sixteen overs to post a score of 220–8.
Martin Blackmore was an early victim in Norton's reply. Alex Lear and Martin Cox then benefitted from some substandard fielding and added 73 before Lear was dismissed by Blackwell, who also accounted for Dean Clifton in a miserly first spell of 2–10 from seven overs.
Cox reached another half-century from 67 balls and, with support from Jon Harvey and Nick Potter, took Norton to within sight of victory before he was dismissed by Matt Hubbard for 92. Two runs were required from the last over and although Dan Bingham bowled tightly, Potter levelled the scores and Sam Gould calmly struck the winning run from the penultimate ball.
With two league matches remaining, Midsomer Norton's First XI are top of the Bristol/Somerset Division of the West of England Premier League and travel this Saturday to play at Frenchay. The Second XI welcome Clevedon to Withies Lane. On Sunday, Lansdown are the visitors for the Sunday Firsts fixture, while the Sunday Seconds are away at Stratton.