DORCHESTER captain Dan Belt challenged his side to be “ready for the fight” against a wounded Martinstown in their Dorset Premier League clash tomorrow (1pm).

The two rivals meet at the Rec with divergent form, champions Dorchester having triumphed in each of their three games, while Martinstown have lost their past two.

Despite Martinstown’s shaky start, Belt is taking nothing for granted in the derby and expects his players to be in top form.

He told Echosport: “It’s the same as every other game, really. They’ve lost two on the bounce so they’re going to look to bounce back.

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“You don’t become a bad team overnight by losing two games. They’re going to be up for it and we’ve got to be ready for the fight.

“I couldn’t have imagined for as good a start as this. The boys have played really well and we’ve had fun at the same time.

“We’re still looking to make performances better and do the job again.”

Meanwhile, opposing skipper Sam Kershaw admitted morale is low in the squad after their poor start, coming off the back of a respectable third place in 2021.

But Town did beat Dorchester by four wickets on their last trip to the Rec in July.

He said: “We’re suffering a bit, down in the dumps with the team. The poor start we’ve had has hit quite hard. We need a pick-me-up, this is the ideal time to do it.”

He added: “They’ll go in as 100 per cent favourites and rightly so. They’ve been performing all through the team since game one, whereas we haven’t.

“We did put in a good performance (in July) but they still beat us at our place.

“It’s not an easy place to go, you don’t know what you’re going to get down there. We’re missing a couple of players and that’s starting to show in our results.”

Dorchester make two changes with James Dunham and Scott Peach coming in for Devon Derrien and Jack Owens.

Martinstown are without Ed Nichols, Tom Pope, Finlay Williams and Jacob Coombs, with Steve Gerety and Dave Trotter coming back to face their old club along with debutant Ry Gerety and all-rounder Teddy Andrews.

Dorchester: Ryall, Mitchem, Rajendar, Peak, Legg, Belt, Peach, J Barrett, N Joslin, Dunham, Baker.

Martinstown: S Gerety, S Williams, W Maltby, Kershaw, Hill, Andrews, Camp, Je Stewart, Durant, Ry Gerety, Trotter.

Dorchester Seconds visit Parley Seconds in County Division Two, while the third team host Marnhull Thirds at St Osmund’s in Division Six.

Martinstown Seconds host Abbotsbury in Division Three (all 1.30pm tomorrow).

Back in the Premier League, Bere Regis are gunning for their third victory in a row when they visit Christchurch tomorrow (1pm).

Brian Keegan’s men have beaten Sherborne and Martinstown in their past two games but the skipper expects a challenging task at Hurn Bridge with numerous players out.

He said: “They’ve got four or five players back, one of which is Liam Bowater who is a decent opening pace bowler and hits the ball an awful long way as well.

“Compared with the Christchurch of last season, going up there isn’t an easy game full stop.

“We’ve got to back ourselves and keep doing what we’re doing but it’s certainly nowhere near a gimmie.”

Bere are missing Dean Rogerson, Cam Robertson, Matt King, Rich Cole, Rich Payne and Cleay Perham.

In come Tim Goodhew, Jacob Kennard, Rupert Guppy, Dom Pegg, Tom Munnings and Garry King.

Keegan added: “It’s weddings, a stag do, somebody’s got a course away. The vast majority of people are not going to be available every game.

“From a team perspective you don’t want them all unavailable at the same time, but spread across. Unfortunately, that’s happened with us.”

Bere: Russell, Murphy, S Goodhew, T Goodhew, Munnings, G King, Guppy, Kennard, Pegg, Keegan, Walbridge.

Bere main sponsor: Booth Gadenne

Bere first & second XI match ball sponsor: Peter Cheeseman

Bere Regis Seconds entertain Poole Town Thirds in County Division Three tomorrow (1.30pm).

Meanwhile, Puddletown are bidding for their first Dorset Premier League win at the fourth attempt since gaining promotion last season.

Adam Barrett’s men travel to Sherborne tomorrow (1pm), facing a side hurt from losing two successive matches.

But the Puddle skipper expects this clash to be the most difficult so far due to player unavailability.

Asked how confident he is of winning this weekend, Barrett replied: “I think we’re going to be waiting a few more weeks before we start thinking about that.

“Looking at the availability it’s probably our worst week yet.”

Reegan Norman (shoulder) is out for a minimum of two weeks, as his father Ryan Norman. Chris Clarke and Andy Barrett miss out. Rob Snow, Andy Fowler and Kieran Knight come in.

On Sherborne, Barrett added: “I don’t really know too much about them. We’ve not played them for a number of years, especially their first team.

“It will be a bit of an unknown test. Hopefully we can catch them on an off day and we can look to progress on to picking up more points.”

Puddletown: Ad Barrett, Snow, Mitchell, C Chaldecott, S Chaldecott, Fowler, J Morris, D Morris, Eastment, Knight, AN Other.

Puddletown Seconds visit Cheselbourne in County Division Five tomorrow (1.30pm).

In County Division One, Portland Red Triangle are also facing unavailability worries for their home clash with second-placed Blandford tomorrow (1.30pm).

Skipper Matt Randell is without five key players as the islanders look to build on their 203-run hammering of Hamworthy last time out.

He said: “We’ll just go in and focus on our own cricket and not worry about the team we’re coming up against. We’re not fussed about how well Blandford are doing.

“To be a competitive side you’ve got to make your home ground like a fortress. We’ve had that at Reforne for quite a while but to lose our first home game, we’re certainly looking to put that right.”

Portland are without Simon Proffitt, Dave and Joe Adkins, plus Callan Laws and Ryan Price.

So far, Khylo Farley is the only replacement, with Portland making a last-second call on selection.

In County Division Two, Weymouth visit unbeaten Beaminster tomorrow (1.30pm) looking to end a run of two consecutive defeats – both against promoted sides Chalke Valley and Charlton Down.

Weymouth captain Harry Mitchell said: “This weekend is a really important game for us.

“Two losses on the trot now. We’ve lost that early-season momentum that we gained in pre-season and we’re just a bit low on confidence.

“If we can put some runs on the board and set a good total, that’s something we’ve been lacking. I don’t think we’re far off where we need to be.”

Home skipper Chris Park said: “I’m looking forward to it. Weymouth are far too strong to be in Division Two, if I’m honest.

“We’re going into the game full of confidence, we’ve won three out of three but I still see us as underdogs with a club the size of Weymouth and the talent they’ve got.”

Beaminster make three changes as John Gudge, Henry Everitt and James Edmunds make way for Dan Hillier, Ollie Bareham and Simon Jones.

The Seasiders make six changes with Tom England, Tom Reed and Jackson Jose dropping to the seconds, while Shafeek Urumancheri, Tim Guyett and Adam Hoyes are unavailable.

Replacing those six are Dom Webb, Johnny Armfield, Manoj Somaratne, Neil Patel and debutant Rob Townley. Weymouth will make a late decision on their 11th player.

Beaminster: Park, W Moss, Golledge, Fowler, Baker, A Moss, Abeywickrama, Jones, O Bareham, Hillier, Hollely.

Weymouth: Webb, Walton, J Sapsworth, Womble, Beals, J Armfield, Mitchell, Somaratne, Patel, Townley, AN Other.

Weymouth Seconds host Lytchett at Redlands in County Division Six, while Beaminster Seconds visit Poole Fifths in Division Seven (both 1.30pm tomorrow).