HUGH Lawes returns to lead Weymouth into Dorset Premier Division action at Colehill tomorrow (1pm).

The Seasiders' captain missed last week's home clash with Wimborne because he was attending a family wedding in London.

However, his boys did him proud in his absence with Dave Pearce skippering the side to an emphatic 11-run win victory which saw then close the gap slightly on Poole Town at the top of the table.

"The lads did superbly last weekend," complimented Lawes, "and picking up 25 points meant we were able to chip away at Poole's advantage because they could only manage 18 points from

victory over Broadstone.

"We're playing some excellent attacking cricket at the moment and need more of the same at Colehill tomorrow."

He added: "Their ground is one of the smallest boundary-wise in the league and runs come thick and fast up there. My only concern is that seeing the small targets tends to light up the batsmen's eyes and a lot of

players perish trying to play the big shots.

"We need to attack with a bit of caution and not fall into that trap. Colehill are a quality team with the likes of Nigel Woodruff, Kieron Cashell and Chris Dunk so we'll need to play it hard and sensibly."

The unlucky man forced to make room for the skipper in east Dorset is teenage batsman Tommy England. But while he returns to the seconds tomorrow, Lawes has given him a massive vote of confidence for the future.

"Tommy's a class act," admitted the captain, "and he's all but cemented a place in the first team next season. He was apparently unlucky going cheaply last week but I understand his fielding and catching was outstanding.

"He knows the score and understands why he's back in the seconds. It's not a reflection on his ability in any way and he's got a big job to do for the club long term."

With Poole at bottom of the table Hamworthy Rec, Lawes knows that nothing less a maximum points haul will be good enough although he's not ruled out an upset at Magna Road.

"The form book is very much on Poole's side, but you never know. Hamworthy will see it as a match they have to win so there's no reason why there can't be an upset," he said.

"But what happens elsewhere is out of our hands. All we're concentrating on is our task at Colehill."