WEYMOUTH II 81-2 (20pts) beat STALBRIDGE III 80 (2pts) by eight wickets

WEYMOUTH Seconds sealed an emphatic eight-wicket victory over a depleted Stalbridge Thirds at Abbotsbury in County Division Six.

With the playing facilities at Redlands unavailable, Weymouth’s second team was indebted to the Swans for providing a pitch, but the change in venue did not deter a youthful Seasiders team.

Seconds’ captain Pete Gordon won the toss and elected to field first on an overcast day and saw his bowlers struggle to find any life in a slow and flat wicket.

An inexperienced Weymouth continued to press though and got their breakthrough when Tom Anderson (1-15) removed Toby Jeanes (8).

Tim Guyett (1-15) then bowled Stalbridge captain Julius Guthrie (8) as Weymouth started to crank up the pressure on the eight-man visitors.

Only wicketkeeper Graeme McKinnon (23no) showed any resistance as Andy Jefferys (2-17) and youngsters Ollie Gordon (1-8) and Ben Hunter (1-12) also got themselves among the wickets.

Weymouth opened with the resolute Tony Quayle and Gordon for their reply, and scoring was slow as Stalbridge unveiled a quality, varied bowling attack.

Good bowling from Howard Legg (1-15) accounted for Gordon (16) as he was able to find lift in the Abbotsbury pitch and force the Weymouth skipper into giving up a simple catch off his top edge.

Up-and-coming star Jack Taylor (27) came in at number three and set about the bowling with aplomb, hitting several sublime shots in his innings.

But he was removed by opening bowler Guthrie (1-23) with plenty of work still to do for the home side.

It was left to Kevin Tissera (16no), making his batting debut for the Seasiders, to guide Weymouth home, along with Quayle (17no), to a resounding win.

Following the match, Gordon was grateful to Abbotsbury for offering their pitch and offered sympathy to his opponents after they travelled a full three players short.

He said: “Well done to Staldbridge for making a game of it despite being short of a full team, and thanks to Abbotsbury for allowing us to play on their pitch as there was nowhere available to play in Weymouth.

“The Weymouth youngsters showed further improvements and are developing a good team ethic,” Gordon added.

Weymouth’s success leaves them fourth, one point ahead of Bournemouth Fifths with a game in hand. Gordon’s men travel to Winton on Saturday looking to close the 32-point gap to Symene in third.