WEYMOUTH SECONDS 205-6 (18pts) beat HAMWORTHY RECREATION 185-7 (11pts) by 20 runs

WEYMOUTH Seconds’ skipper John Ryan hailed his side’s victory over Hamworthy Recreation at Redlands as a magnificent team performance after a dogged display in the field saw the visitors fall 20 runs short.

Rec won the toss and inserted the Seasiders who struggled to find runs until a fine third-wicket stand of 109 from Tom England (60) and Kieron Womble (57) moved the score from 40-2 to 149 in emphatic fashion.

Sam Cooper (3-60) then bowled England but 36 extras and a middle-order cameo from Firaz Ulhaq (19) saw Weymouth reach 205-6 off their allotted overs.

Hamworthy’s reply began slowly but solid knocks from Stuart Platts (32), Richard Dishington (21), Sean Leadbetter (33) and Eddie Wilson (30) kept them in contention.

A heavy shower midway through the innings then saw the condition of the ball deteriorate but tight bowling from Michael Pearce (4-44), Steve Budd (2-46) and Matt Lawes (1-38) ensured Weymouth kept the scoring rate down and took the win despite a late flurry of runs from Ian Peters (24).

Ryan, whose side have now won three on the spin and sit second in the Dorset League Division Two table, said: “They are a half decent batting side so we always knew it was going to be a tough game. And with nothing in the wicket, no swing in the air and the ball getting wet and becoming like a bar of soap after a downpour later in the game, we had to really grind it out.

“In the end we did not worry about the wickets and instead just concentrated on the runs and with the experience of Michael, Steve and Matt, we bowled full and straight and limited them to ones and twos with fielders out on the boundary.

“Unlike the Premier Division and Division One, there are no restrictions in Division Two in regards to where you can place your fielders and although we looked defensive at times it did the job and got the desired result.”

Commenting on the partnership between England and Womble, Ryan added: “It was a fantastic stand and it really paved the way for us.

“At Redlands, you always want to reach the 200-mark, so we were really pleased with 205-6, and the fact that we held all our catches and performed well in the field, again proves how all the pre-season training we had is really paying off.”

The Seasiders travel to league leaders Winton Sports on Saturday. The table-toppers claimed 39 points from their first two games but had their latest match at Witchampton postponed due to the weather.