CHRIS Park admitted Dorset could have avoided a second Unicorns Trophy defeat of 2014 had they restricted Wiltshire to a lower total.

The visitors racked up 294 at Dean Park and Dorset could only manage 257 in reply, the highlight being Luke Webb’s maiden half-century at senior county level.

The result meant Dorset are almost certain to miss out on progression from Group One and captain Park was left to rue mistakes in the field.

He said: “The difference between the teams was the end of the innings where we conceded 40 or 50 runs too many.

“Unfortunately, being realistic, 294 was a little bit out of our grasp.

“A couple of dropped catches probably cost us 20 or 30 runs and then poor discipline gave them their boundary balls, so that was another 20 or 30 runs.

“If we’re honest, we could quite easily have got them down to 50 runs less and I think we’d have got that.

“We batted quite well, but we lost a couple of soft wickets at the top of the innings, which maybe left us short at the end.

“That said, I was delighted for Luke. It was a great innings to get 65 and brilliant for him as an 18-year-old lad.”

Dorset’s final Unicorns Trophy group game is away at Cornwall on Sunday (11am).

Park’s men begin their MCCA Championship Western Division campaign against Devon on June 8.