BERE REGIS 182 (11pts) lost to POOLE TOWN 191 (19pts) by nine runs

BERE Regis tasted defeat for the first time in this season’s Wessex Internet Dorset Premier League, losing a nail-biter to Poole Town by nine runs.

Brian Keegan’s men remain top of the table on average points, just 0.5 above Dorchester who beat Broadstone comfortably on Saturday.

Bere were left to ponder an unusually loose bowling performance, the 34 extras shipped proving to be a major factor in the outcome.

Extras were Poole’s top scorer, with only Joey Wormington (31no) making it beyond 30.

READ MORE: Bere Regis beat Broadstone by four wickets

There were handy contributions from Ben Wright and Pet Reynolds (both 24), while Mitchell Wilson (19), James Kirk (15) and Josiah Edy (12) all scored fluently.

Their innings proved especially valuable after Sam Goodhew (4-25) had caused havoc with his off-spin, including two wickets in two balls.

Rich Cole (2-36) also demonstrated his death bowling ability with a useful spell at the end as Poole totalled a competitive 191 all out.

Bere shrugged off the early run out of James Keegan (1) to build steadily with Tom Munnings (18) and Goodhew (46).

When the duo were dismissed, Bere were 88-3 which became 112-5 when Daniel Winwood (3-33) pinned both Cam Robertson (16) and Tim Goodhew lbw in the same over.

Through the chaos, Eral Anderson (40) batted patiently to glue Bere’s innings together.

The former Dorchester man, however, was left with an increasingly large share of the runscoring to do and eventually perished to Badrul Alam (2-28).

Bere still needed 37 runs with two wickets left but despite a spirited 23 from Theo Talbot, they fell just short as Mitchell Wilson (2-27) had the number nine caught to clinch the win.

Speaking to Echosport, Bere skipper Keegan said: “It was very disappointing. The thing that we’ve been getting our wins on, consistency with the ball and doing well in the field, unfortunately fell apart a bit.

“It was unlike us with 34 extras. It wasn’t our greatest fielding performance. That said, Murphy bowled well and Sam bowled extremely well. Then, Rich at the end.

“They got to 191 and from where we needed to be, we should’ve been chasing no more than 160.

“We stuck to our task with the bat fairly well but when Sam and Eral got us in a good position, we lost a couple of wickets in clusters.

“It gave them the momentum. Then a cameo from Theo batting at nine, he batted really well. It’s just a bit gutting to get that close.

“That’s the way it is sometimes. We have to accept it wasn’t our best day at the office and we move on to the T20s.”

Bere Regis Seconds fared little better in County Division Two, losing to Charlton Down by 144 runs.