SHERBORNE 277-6 (18pts) beat WEYMOUTH 209-7 (7pts) by 68 runs

SHERBORNE did enough to hold on to top spot in the Dorset Premier League but Weymouth could take some consolation from the fact that they denied the leaders a maximum 20-point haul at Redlands.

The Seasiders conceded 277 runs for the second Saturday running, though chairman John Ryan reckoned that at one stage it looked like the visitors would post a score well in excess of 300.

And although the hosts fell 68 runs shy of Sherborne’s total, Ryan felt Weymouth could savour something of a moral victory in preventing the away side from claiming all the bonus points on offer.

“There is only one point between Sherborne and Poole at the top of the table,” he said. “There were two points Sherborne didn’t get against us and that could be pivotal at the end of the season.

“It was a little moral victory for us on Saturday, just like it was against Wimborne & Colehill the week before.

“We might not have had a great chance of getting the runs but we didn’t cave in or give wickets away.”

He added: “They got off to a fast start when they batted and I thought they were looking at 300-350 the way they were going.

“But we managed to tie them down a bit and didn’t do too badly when we batted, and we put up a good performance against a team that is top of the league.

“Simon Browne finished 75 not out and batted really well again, and he also took two wickets with consecutive balls at the end of the Sherborne innings.

“I don’t quite know if it will count but I guess he will be on a hat-trick when he bowls at Poole Park in our next game.”

Openers Luke Hancock (25) and Marc Lock got Sherborne off to a flyer at Redlands, and they put on 56 for the first wicket before the former was bowled by Alex Mortimore.

Lock continued to flourish and his 90 and James Elliot-Square’s 68 set the away side well on the way to a big score.

But a good spell of spin from Ryan (1-29) helped slow the run rate and, as Ryan stated, Browne removed Daniel Baker and Tom Harris with the last two deliveries of the innings.

The Weymouth top five all reached double figures during the Seasiders’ response, with skipper Kieron Womble adding 35 before being dismissed by Kyle Hopper.

Browne’s stubbornness frustrated the Sherborne attack and the hosts had got to 209-7 by the close of play.