FERNDOWN WAYFARERS SECONDS 182 (6) lost to WEYMOUTH SECONDS 186-4 (20) by six wickets

WEYMOUTH Seconds skipper John Ryan was “over the moon” after his young side produced a mature display to claim a six-wicket success at Dolmans Farm in Division One.

The Seasiders, who included seven players aged 18 or under in their line up, looked destined for a difficult day when they lost the toss and saw Ferndown Wayfarers race to 122-1 but it was precisely at that point that the tide suddenly turned.

In need of some inspiration, the visitors turned to the returning Faraz Ulhaq (1-30), who broke up a second-wicket stand of 94 by claiming the vital wicket of S Rogers (51).

That stunned the hosts and within a matter of minutes they suddenly found themselves in trouble on 122-4, courtesy of two wickets in two balls from Ryan (2-33), with Nabil Alibhai (45) chopping the ball to Luke Carrington, and Jake Brooks being cleaned up for a duck.

From there Ferndown never recovered as Neil Walton (3-26) and Joe Weld (3-29) began to produce severe swing and spin respectively to eventually knock the home side over for 182.

Although the wicket was doing a bit for the bowlers, that score seemed well below par and Weymouth immediately got to work in reply with Simon Mitchem (77) and Kieron Womble (24) putting on 65 for the first wicket.

Womble was then trapped leg before by Dave Ballam (1-39) but for the Seasiders that was no cause for alarm as Weld (45) came to the crease and shared a stand of 99 with Mitchem, who elegantly moved on to a half century.

Unfortunately for Weld, he finished five runs short of a possible 50, following a fine caught and bowled by Jason Thake. James Almond (2) then came and went before Mitchem was trapped leg before with just four more runs required for victory, which Ulhaq (8) duly knocked off with ease.

Afterwards, a jubilant Ryan said: “I am over the moon, especially with the amount of youngsters we had playing. Seven out of the 11 are 18 or under and to win the match was superb let alone receive so many compliments afterwards from the umpires and the opposition for the way we played.

“At one stage they were on 121-1 and going along nicely but once the medium pacers came off and we bowled a bit slower we began to cause them problems.

“We kept our bowling tight and held our catches, and to eventually dismiss them for 182 was a fantastic result.

“We thought that was well below par and in reply we set about knocking it off in fine fashion with Simon really making the most of his opportunity to open the batting.

“Joe Weld then came in at number three, and together they put on 99 for the second wicket, which was a superb effort, especially considering both of them are just 18 years-old.

“Joe also bowled well with him and Neil Walton both taking three wickets apiece. Joe actually bats right-handed but bowls left arm around the wicket, making him an extremely talented cricketer and one of many we look forward to watching develop over the next few years.”

That win at Ferndown keeps Weymouth in fourth spot, but Ryan has desires above that. He added: “Our first objective has always been to stay up but a top three finish is certainly not beyond us now, especially as we still have to go to third-placed Sherborne on August 7.”