DORSET won the first match of the season when their juniors scored a tense 32-31 victory against Wiltshire in the under-25 double-rink championship at Swindon.

Trailing by seven shots at halfway and still four adrift on the 15th Dorset snatched victory in a thrilling finish with a last-end single on the final end of the day from Chris Lawrence (Wimborne), Carl Foun-tain (Wessex), Ben Paulley (Green-hill) and Wimborne's Phil Lawrence who triumphed 16-15 against Luke Meehan.

The companion all-Dorchester rink of George Spracklen, Steven Huttley, Nick Voss and Jamie Lockwood had earlier tied 16-16 after scoring four shots on the last three ends against under-25 international Michael Snell on the Westlecot green.

Phil Lawrence was 9-2 down before taking the next six ends to go 11-9 up at 14 ends. Although dipping behind again at 13-11 Lawrence won four of the last five, his brother Chris at lead getting the crucial shot on the final end with a side toucher which Wiltshire failed to shift.

In contrast Lockwood bounded 7-1 ahead at five ends only to hit a disastrous spell of eight losing ends that saw him 14-7 in arrears. After clawing back to 14-10 the Dorchester quartet were still 16-12 adrift on the 18th until levelling with a two, one, one finish.

Junior squad manager Andy Paulley and assistant Brian Davis were so impressed with the debut of 12-year-old lead Spracklen that they awarded him his county tie.

"George gave as good a display from a lead as you would wish to see and was a credit to the coaching of Frank Gwatkin at Dorchester," said Davis, a one-time Middleton Cup boss and former county singles champion.

Dorset now play in the regional finals at Bath on Sunday, June 15, where four teams will be vying for a place in the national finals at Worthing.

All bar Spracklen and Huttley were in action at Dorchester for the Middleton Cup preparation match against Hampshire.

This Saturday Paulley and Voss head to the Norgren club, Warwickshire, for the England under-25 trials.