MARTINSTOWN 238-7 (8pts) lost to WIMBORNE & COLEHILL 242-7 (18pts) by 3 wickets

STEVE Gerety fell just short of a century as Martinstown lost for the third match in succession at Wimborne & Colehill last weekend.

Martinstown, seventh in the Dorset Premier League, batted first and posted a competitive total of 238-7 in 50 overs.

However, the visitors’ hopes of a win were dashed when the hosts reached their victory target with 10 balls to spare.

With Dorchester beating Weymouth and Swanage seeing off Parley, the battle to avoid relegation from the top flight has got even tighter.

Last weekend’s results also means that Martinstown’s home clash with the Swans this Saturday takes on extra significance in the Lower Ashton Farm outfit’s bid to stay up this season.

Things had looked promising for Ed Nichols and his men at Wimborne when they made a great start with the bat.

Skipper Nichols (54) and fellow opener Lee House put on 90 for the first wicket before the latter was caught by Tom Caines off Harry Beardsley for 31.

Nichols passed 50 and took the score beyond 100 with Tom Adams when he departed to Joe Weld.

But Adams (28) and Gerety kept the runs flowing and they added another 67.

However, when Adams lost his wicket, no-one could stick around long enough with Gerety to form another meaningful partnership.

George Bartlett (4-32) did the damage for the home side and he eventually got rid of Gerety for a superb 90.

Like Nichols, Colin Randall made a half-century in the hosts’ reply, though they appeared to be struggling slightly at 112-4.

By that point, Teddy Andrews (1-50), James Pickering (1-24), Matt Rimmer (1-77) and Ryan Chase (3-36) had accounted for Caines, Bartlett, James Miller and Randall respectively.

They key figure for Wimborne & Colehill would prove to be middle order batsman David Guest.

He had made 59 by the time he was caught by Gerety off Charlie Andrews (1-28).

Despite Guest’s important contribution, the home side were still on 203-7 and Martinstown remained in with a shout.

Their chances diminished however when Weld (37 not out) and Graham Cole (21 not out) shared an unbroken stand of 39 for the eighth wicket to see their team home.

A three-wicket win gave Wimborne & Colehill 18 points and the defeat for Martinstown left them with eight.

Elsewhere, Martinstown Seconds suffered a nine-wicket thrashing by Shaftesbury in County Division Five.

They face title-chasing Charlton Down on Saturday.