Topsham St James skipper Charlie Penn says his side must start clawing back points or face relegation – starting on Saturday at Halberton & Sampford Peverell.
The Tops are languishing at the foot of the E Division table with six defeats, no wins and one abandonment to their name.
Penn's side are 35 points adrift of second-from-bottom Kingskerswell, and face a Halberton side sitting in mid-table – although they are only 14 points above Kings.
"A bit of a gulf has opened up – it has not been a great seven games to be honest with you," said Penn.
"It is a bit depressing at the moment but we need to start bridging that points gap at the half-way stage of the season.
"It is a must-win game really for us. We are in a bit of trouble at the bottom and Halberton are down there too, so it is important.
"We are just not batting well enough and not posting high enough scores. The bowling has been okay but it is all about the batting really.
"We need to apply ourselves better and look to build bigger scores whenever we can."
Penn will have the services of wicketkeeper Rhys Beauchamp to call upon, along with the returning Matt Williams, but Ed Baxter will miss the rest of the season.
"Ed Baxter has had a baby so we are all cock-a-hoop for him, but it does unfortunately mean no more cricket for Ed," said Penn.
Topsham suffered an eight-wicket defeat against Kilmington last time out.
Baxter top-scored with 48 as the Tops made 157, which Kilmington overhauled for the loss of two wickets.
Halberton head into Saturday's the match after a two-wicket defeat to Kentisbeare .
Halberton were 257 for nine, with Jeremy Turner making 79, but Kents reeled in the total for the loss of nine wickets.
Andrew Chave hit a six off the penultimate delivery to seal victory for the Kents, who travel to Whimple on Saturday.
"Andrew Chave hit a six off the penultimate ball to win. The same thing actually happened in my first game as captain a couple of years ago (against Whitchurch) so it was nice to see that again," said Kentisbeare captain Scott Chappell.
"Andrew got the winning runs but James Sprague (72) came in and kept us going, so it was a good team effort."
Whimple lost by two wickets against Bridestowe on Saturday.
Ben Silk posted 50 not out as Whimple put on 169, but Bridestowe scored 173 for eight to take the victory. Countess Wear host Cullompton as they look to recover from a 131-run defeat to Kenn .
Countess Wear put on just 75 as they tried to chase down Kenn's 206 for eight, with Kav Dias their top-scorer with 36.
Edward Bragg top-scored with 60 for Kenn, who entertain Kingskerswell on Saturday.
Cully also lost, going down by nine wickets against Kingskerswell.
Cully – who have stuttered after a strong start to the season – scored 131 in their innings, before Kings chased down the target, losing just one wicket in the process.
