SHROTON 246-8 (19) beat WEYMOUTH SECONDS 224-9 (12) by 39 runs

TEENAGER Tom Newton snared four wickets on his debut as a young Weymouth Seconds side showed their potential with a battling performance at Shroton.

The hosts ended up winning the Dorset Funeral Plan League Division One clash by 39 runs but Seasiders' skipper Steve Budd went home fairly satisfied with his team's display despite one big grumble.

He said: "We dropped a lot of catches which is not acceptable at this level and basically it cost us full points and ultimately the game.

"However, on the positive side, we had superb team morale and some of the performances from the youngsters were excellent.

"Newton's bowling was a revelation and it was great to see Jonnie Armfield, Will McKay and Ed Wilsdon all get amongst the runs.

"Dan Hutchens was also as classy as ever with the ball and Kieron Womble did superbly behind the stumps. Despite being only 15 he was not fazed at all and there is no doubt he has a big role to play this season.

"Many thanks must also go to John Ryan who stepped up to the Seconds at the 11th hour due to sickness to Jack Crocker."

Budd won the toss and inserted Shroton on a green-top wicket and the home side quickly found their form, racing to 46 before Hutchens (2-33) accounted for both openers.

First he clean bowled Ball (26) before he then teased Way (27) into a shot that the batsman edged to the safe hands of debutant Womble.

Unfortunately for the Seasiders their opponents soon regained their composure with M Doble (35) and Pike (31) steadying the ship.

However, fast bowler Newton (4-45) then entered the fray and made an instant impact with great pace, seam and away swing which knocked off the bails of three Shroton batsmen in his first seven-over spell.

M Murphy (3) was then trapped leg before by Ryan (1-14) leaving the hosts struggling on 153-7 but once again they responded thanks to fine knocks from Wooldridge (36) and number nine Giles (55).

Newton returned to the attack and finally broke that partnership by causing Giles to hole out to Budd but the damage had been done and at tea Weymouth were left wondering what might have been and reflecting on eight dropped catches in the middle of the innings.

In reply, the Seasiders got off to a solid start with Armfield (43) and Andy Jarvis (22) building a solid first wicket stand of 59.

Jarvis then fell leg before to Giles (2-42), which brought McKay to the crease and he got off to a confident start by finding the boundary four times.

Unfortunately for the youngster he then scooped a full toss to M Doble at mid-wicket when well placed on 26.

Wilsdon was the next man to arrive at the crease and that is when the fireworks really started to fly with a flurry of fours and sixes.

However, Armfield was then cleverly stumped by Smart and that signalled a mini middle-order collapse, which saw the score go from 107-3 to 114-5 and the run rate rise to ten an over.

Wilsdon continued to battle superbly but with no one able to stay out in the middle with him for a sustained period Shroton began to assume full control.

Finally the number four was bowled by Wooldridge (1-41) for 77 and although the Weymouth tail wagged to ensure their side gained three extra bonus points it proved not enough to take the overall victory.

THE FAIRFIELD SCOREBOARD

SHROTON

Ball c Womble b Hutchens 26

Way b Hutchens 27

M Doble b Newton 35

Pike b Jarvis 31

McPhillimy b Newton 6

Edwards b Newton 4

Wooldridge not out 36

Murphy lbw Ryan 3

Giles c Budd b Newton 55

Smart not out 0

Extras (18w, 3nb, 1b, 1lb) 23

Total (8 wkts, 50 overs) 246

FoW: 1-42, 2-69, 3-108, 4-122, 5-143, 6-145, 7-153, 8-245.

Bowling: Hutchens 10-1-33-2, Walton 10-0-78-0, Budd 9-0-53-0, Newton 10-1-45-4, Jarvis 6-2-21-1, Ryan 5-1-14-1.

WEYMOUTH

Armfield st Smart b Doble 43

Jarvis lbw Giles 22

McKay c Doble b Giles 26

Wilsdon b Wool 77

Trevett run out 1

Womble st Smart b Doble 1

Newton c Smart b Doble 13

Budd lbw Pike 8

Walton b Pike 4

Ryan not out 5

Hutchens not out 4

Extras (13w, 1b, 6lb) 20

Total (9wkts, 50 overs) 224

FoW: 1-59, 2-101, 3-107, 4-110, 5-114, 6-152, 7-179, 8-210, 9-246

Bowling: Pike 10-3-30-2, Wooldridge 10-0-41-1, Giles 10-2-42-2, R Doble 6-0-29-0, M Doble 9-0-45-3, McPhillimy 5-0-30-0.