STALBRIDGE 170 (23pts) beat BRIDPORT 125 (7pts) by 35 runsBRIDPORT suffered their first defeat of their Dorset Funeral Plan League Division One campaign at a wet and windy Stalbridge.

After restricting the hosts to 170, and despite a resilient 49 from skipper Paul Tweddle, the Brewery Ground outfit were bowled out 36 runs short of their target.

Bridport had earlier reduced Stalbridge to 96-6 after winning the toss and choosing to field.

The game had always promised to be a battle of the bowlers, with Stalbridge boasting the likes of former Dorset paceman Steve Forshaw and left-arm wrist spinner Andrew Dike in their attack.

And when the umpires allowed it to start in drizzle, deepening gloom and without sightscreens there were no surprises.

Andy Sherring (2-44) grabbed a wicket with the third delivery before reducing Stalbridge to 18-2 with the dismissal of skipper Matt Chant shortly after.

And the visitors continued to work steadily through the hosts' top order as showers blew across The Park.

A wicket from Rob Atkins (1-27), a double for Adam Herring (2-48) and one for Will Everitt saw Stalbridge crash to 96-6 before Forshaw and Colin Moore teamed up to launch a fight back.

The duo added 51 for the seventh wicket and snatched the momentum back from Tweddle's men before Pete Russell clean bowled Forshaw for 40.

Wes Lewis (2-23) and Russell(2-17) then mopped up the tail for the addition of just 23 more runs and earned their side maximum bowling points for the second week running.

Will Everitt's brilliant spell of seven overs for just nine runs in the middle of the innings prevented the Stalbridge batsmen cutting loose but their determination saw them patiently build a score 20 or 30 runs above par.

The first ball of Bridport's reply saw Atkins adjudged lbw to Forshaw after shouldering arms to back-of-a-length delivery and when Sam Challis followed three overs later the visitors had a mountain to climb.

Phil Gisborne (14) added 29 with Tweddle for the third wicket before Fred Everitt (27) played another mature knock to help the total on to 88.

But when Dike had the 16-year-old caught Bridport's reply folded rapidly.

None of the remaining batsmen made it into double figures as they lost seven wickets for 37 runs with Tweddle last man out for 49.

Tweddle said: "A lot of positives will come out of the game and it was a good exercise to test ourselves against one of the stand out teams in the league.

"It was just unfortunate that our batting didn't go as well as last week."

THE PARK SCOREBOARD

STALBRIDGEMiles c Herring b A Sherring 0Chant c F Everitt b A Sherring 13R Burfitt b Herring 26McPherson c Herring b Atkins 17Wilson c A Sherring b W Everitt 15Forshaw b Russell 40M Burfitt lbw b Herring 2Moore c Atkins b W Lewis 19Hedges c Russell b W Lewis 8Dike lbw b Russell 8Williams not out 2Extras 20Total (43.5overs): 170FoW: 1-0, 2-18, 3-43, 4-71, 5-83, 6-96, 7-147, 8-152, 9-159Bowling: A Sherring 10-1-44-2, Atkins 7-1-27-1, Herring 10-1-48-2, W Everitt 7-1-9-1, W Lewis 5-0-23-2, Russell 4.5-0-17-2BRIDPORTAtkins lbw b Forshaw 0Challis lbw b Williams 4Gisborne lbw b Williams 14Tweddle c Moore b Chant 49F Everitt c M Burfitt b Dike 27Russell b R Burfitt 5S Good b R Burfitt 0W Everitt c Miles b R Burfitt 1A Sherring b Forshaw 2Herring b Chant 0W Lewis not out 1Extras 22Total (37.3overs): 125FoW: 1-0, 2-4, 3-33, 4-88, 5-102, 6-103, 7-107, 8-116, 9-124Bowling: Forshaw 9-1-24-2; Williams 6-1-22-2; Dike 10-0-40-1; Chant 6.3-1-11-2; R Burfitt 6-0-23-3