BROADSTONE THIRDS 125 (17pts) beat BRIDPORT 107 (6pts) by 18 runs

DEPLETED Bridport fell to an agonising defeat at Brewery Field and now face a huge fight in their bid for Dorset League Division Three survival.

Saturday’s 18-run loss at the hands of relegation rivals Broadstone Thirds, together with rock-bottom Parley’s victory over Cattistock, means Liam Toohill’s men are trapped in a three-way tie at the foot of the table.

And the Bridport captain admits the clash with Broad-stone was one they could ill afford to lose.

He said: “This game was a must-win. Broadstone were 11 points below us before the game but this defeat puts us level with them.

“The next two games against Ferndown Wayfarers (Saturday) and Parley (August 18) are must-win games as well. We need to pick up as many points as possible to avoid being relegated to Division Four.”

Commenting on last Satur-day’s disappointing result, Toohill added: “I won the toss and put them into bat, hoping to restrict them to a manageable target.

“The bowlers bowled superbly to be fair and Wes Lewis (2-17) and myself (1-29) managed to pick up wickets in the opening overs to peg them back.

“Ed Halson (5-22) then picked up three wickets in as many overs to leave them at 46-6 at the drinks interval.

“From there we would have liked to have restricted them to 100 but I felt we backed off. We only had 10 players and this showed in the field.

“We definitely missed our other bowling options – Dave Herbert and Dom Gape being unavailable – while Duane Gay was only fit to play as a batsman.

“However, Ant Azor (1-17) bowled a maiden in his debut spell for the first team and followed this up with his first wicket, before Ed picked up his first five-wicket haul of the season.

“Chasing 125 should have been a walk in the park with the talent we have in our batting line-up. However, Luke King (45 not out) was the only player to bat with his head as we lost our top three for a collective score of 24.

“New signing Charles Pastell showed glimpses of brilliance in a rapid 13 but this attacking nature was his downfall.

“From there we lost wickets at regular intervals without much resistance. All we needed was someone to stay with Luke as he was batting tremendously well.

“However, he was left stranded on 45 when last man Paul Edwards was trapped lbw with the score on 107.

“Fair play to Broadstone as they showed the fight and determination that we lacked. Our batting was average and we will have to rectify this to help us finish the season strongly.”