Dorchester SECONDS 151-5 (20pts) beat FERNDOWN WAYFARERS SECONDS 150 (6pts) by five wickets.

SECOND team co-captain Simon Joslin is encouraged by this victory but is refusing to get carried away with his side’s promotion hopes.

Dorchester’s win sets up a top-of- the-table clash with league leaders Bere Regis this weekend.

And Joslin said: “I have a real selection headache now and feel a little like the Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini.

“I have a wealth of players to pick from and some lads are going to be disappointed this weekend, but it’s a great problem to have. The players who get picked are going to have to show they really want it.

“It’s such a difference from the days where I might be scratching around trying to find 11 players.

“Competition for places is healthy and can only be good for the club as all the players are involved.

“I will lose some players to the first team this week, but that is the nature of the beast, and others are unavailable due to family or work commitments.

“However, we have some experienced players looking to get back in like Steven Clifford and Quenton Miller.

“That should certainly increase the motivation levels.”

Ferndown Wayfarers won the toss and elected to bat first on a green looking track, a decision fellow co-captain Steve Budd was quite happy to accept.

Budd said: “A few of us looked at the wicket before the game and in all honesty we felt it might be a good toss to lose.

“We were a little undecided about what to do if we won the toss so to have the decision taken out of my hands was quite nice.”

However, when last week’s eight-wicket hero Mike Peake pulled up injured after only seven balls of his spell, it looked like it might turn into a long afternoon for Budd.

A relieved Budd said: “Dave Herbert will rightly take the batting plaudits for his knock of 73, but we looked like we might be up against it when Mike Peake got injured early on and we were very grateful to Crispin Brown for holding our bowling attack together.

“He held up one end for us while we recovered from the loss of Mike. The pressure he built resulted in success for other bowlers.

“He came back to bowl his second spell from the top end where others had struggled into the wind, and he took a couple of well deserved wickets.”

Co-captain Joslin was equally effusive in his praise for Brown: “We have a nice blend of youth and experience but Crispin was certainly the pick of the bowlers.

“The fact that we lost our main strike bowler early on and still managed to bowl them out shows what a balanced side we have.

“Stuart Beasley bowled incredibly tightly and at one point conceded only one run in five overs and Joe Power had a bit of a swagger in his step after a great spell of 2-17 from eight overs.

“Dave Herbert batted very well and made it look an easy win, but at 50-4 it certainly wasn’t comfortable.

“His partnership with John Legg was vital with John batting like a senior pro and showing experience beyond his years. Ian Legg was also looking very good until he fell lbw.”