WIMBORNE & COLEHILL 277-5 (18pts) beat WEYMOUTH 159-6 (4pts) by 118 runs

WEYMOUTH went some way to repairing the damage caused by their capitulation against Stalbridge a week earlier, but they were still a clear second best to Wimborne & Colehill on Saturday.

The Seasiders ended a turbulent seven days for the club with a 118-run reverse at Redlands, though they did prevent the away side from bowling them out.

Visiting captain James Miller won the toss and elected to bat first, and Colin Randall’s excellent innings of 87 laid the foundation for a score of 277.

Other than fellow opener Tom Caines, bowled by Simon Browne for eight, all of the Wimborne & Colehill top order made runs.

David Guest and Simon Woodruff scored 44 and 34 respectively, while James Williams (44 not out) was at the crease when the innings came to an end after 50 overs.

Although he didn’t claim a wicket, Dave Trotter was the pick of the Weymouth bowlers with a miserly spell of 0-16 from his 10 overs.

As well as a run out, John Ryan, Laurie Whyte and Paul Payne claimed the other dismissals.

Weymouth made a solid start in reply and passed 46 – the total they had been skittled out for by Stalbridge – without losing a wicket.

They reached 60 before losing three wickets for only four runs – opener Andy Jarvis contributed a useful 28 to the total.

Two more batsmen came and went but Browne hung around to the close, hitting two sixes and six fours in an unbeaten 59.

“Rather than get skittled out for a cheap score we dug in and got a bit of self-esteem back,” said Seasiders chairman John Ryan.

“But we stopped them from getting maximum bonus points and restored some pride by not being bowled out.

“It wasn’t like the week before when we had a disaster against Stalbridge, and Simon batted really well.

“We had plenty of experience out there on Saturday but they had youth on their side and batted and bowled well.

“We just haven’t got the quality to chase down big scores and we have to rely on holding teams to low totals.

“If we had held them to 220 then we might have had a sniff but 270 was going to be too many for us to get.”

Weymouth now have to prepare to face Dorset Premier League leaders Sherborne at Redlands this Saturday.

Elsewhere last weekend, Weymouth Seconds lost to Beaminster by eight wickets in County Division Three.