WEYMOUTH 221-9 (7pts) lost to COLEHILL 223-5 (19pts) by five wickets

WEYMOUTH saw their Dorset Premier Division championship hopes sunk by Chris Lake at Wimborne Road.

The Colehill all-rounder turned in a match winning performance with bat and ball to condem the Seasiders to only their second defeat of the summer.

It was Lake the bowler who led the way by claiming 2-35 as Weymouth limped to 221-9 after losing the toss and being asked to bat first on a difficult track under heavy skies.

He then followed up by hitting a classy unbeaten 82 not out as the villagers reached their target with an over and five wickets to spare.

Weymouth captain Hugh Lawes said: "We're all very disappointed by the result. Nobody likes losing and it's hard to take. I've lost two

tosses this season, this one and the one down at Poole, and they were probably the two most important to win.

"On both occasions we were put in to bat and ended up losing and that's obviously very frustrating."

He added: "Having said that, today we were beaten by a better side and by a class innings from Chris Lake. He and Rob Ryan batted brilliantly and they deserved to be on the winning side."

Weymouth were soon up against it during their innings with opener Dean Janaway sent back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers.

Jim Ryall (14) and Ben Lawes (36) repaired the damage by taking the score along to 64 before wicketkeeper Ryall became the first of Lake's two victims.

Ben Lawes followed five runs later and when Dave Pearce (11) and Paul Payne (12) came and went, the Seasiders were staring down a barrel at 99-5.

But it was bowlers Chris Knight and Glen Dawson who came to the rescue during a much-needed partnership of 42.

Knight (20) sensibly dropped anchor at one end allowing his Kiwi team mate to go for his shots at the other. And this he did with venom, clubbing four sixes and three boundaries in a whirlwind 38.

Skipper Hugh Lawes then guided the visitors to maximum batting points with a solid 38 not out and while 221 was a small total on the postage stamp-sized ground, it was a score the Seasiders would have settled for at the halfway stage of their innings.

Colehill began their reply by losing two early wickets and when Dan Belt took a stunning one-handed catch at square leg to dismiss Nigel Knight (13), the hosts were heading for trouble.

Lake and Blandford then led a recovery which saw the score move towards the hundred mark, but another wonderful take by Janaway at first slip to get rid of Blandford, put the visitors firmly back in the driving seat.

However, an outstanding fifth wicket partnership between Lake and Ryan (56) put paid to Weymouth's hopes of victory, and possibly their 2003 title aspirations.

The pair added 123 to take Colehill to within three runs of their target with Neil Gilbert coming in and hitting the winning boundary off the fifth ball of the penultimate over.

With leaders Poole scoring an easy win over bottom of the table Hamworthy Rec, captain Lawes admits the title could now be out of Weymouth's reach.

"It's going to be tough for us now," he said, "but all we can do is keep working hard and make sure we win our last two games against Parley and Stalbridge.

"The pressure is on Poole, not us. They have to go to Colehill on the last day of the season so it's not quite done and dusted yet."