WINTON SPORTS 229-9 (20) beat WEYMOUTH SECONDS 92 all out (5) by 137 runs

WEYMOUTH Seconds skipper John Ryan has insisted that his side will come back fighting after their dismal defeat against Winton Sports at Meyrick Park.

The Seasiders went into the Dorset League Division Two clash knowing a win would see them leapfrog their opponents at the top of the table but Winton made home advantage count and cruised to victory to continue their 100 per cent start to the campaign.

For Ryan it was a bitter disappointment following three successive victories but he is confident the experience will make his side even stronger in the weeks ahead.

He said: “The ground was a bit of an unknown quantity for us and it was very much a case of angels and demons.

“The wicket was no angel and the outfield was full of demons. It was dusty and lumpy and some of our players picked up knocks just fielding with the biggest blow being Andy Jarvis who suffered a hamstring injury. That meant he could not open the batting and instead had to come in at number eight with a runner.

“I tend to back my bowlers when I win the toss because at this level you only get one new ball but in hindsight perhaps, on this occasion, we should have batted first.

“We did not bowl too well and they had batting all the way down and with a couple of short boundaries on either side they attacked everything and put on a knock of 229.

“That was far more than what we should have allowed them to get and in reply some of our players took on shots they would not have normally took on and we soon found ourselves on 46-7.

“In the end we reached 92 and picked up five points and without a doubt it was just one of those days where we were not at the races.

“It was disappointing that we were never in the running but we had three good games before that and now we must pick ourselves up and come back fighting next Saturday.”

Opting to bowl first looked like it could pay dividends for the Seasiders when they secured the wicket of A Willard for a duck but a stand of 51 between J Clarke (13) and J Dooley (40) got Winton on track.

D Baguley (38) and J May (37) then added vital runs and with A Williams leading the charge in an eighth wicket partnership of 41 with L Phillips (20), the hosts reached 229-9 at the close of the innings.

Matt Lawes (4-56) and the economical Graham Puckett (2-30) both bowled well but the Seasiders were left with a hill to climb which soon became a mountain when they crashed to 25-5 in reply as L Garrett (4-21) worked wonders with the ball.

Ryan (20) put up some resistance at number nine to put some respectability on the Weymouth innings but Winton comfortably sauntered to the win, bowling the Seasiders out in just 31.4 overs.