WEYMOUTH SECONDS 172-8 (20pts) beat POOLE SECONDS 162 all-out (11) by 10 runs
FORMER Portland Red Triangle all-rounder Simon Browne (52) rescued Wey-mouth with a fine half-century in this close encounter at Redlands in Dorset Funeral Plan League Division Two.
The Seasiders looked in huge trouble at 42-4 but Browne joined Andy Jarvis (45) to resurrect the innings that ended with a quickfire 16 by Rob Nobbs.
Poole clearly felt confident they could chase down their target of 172 but the Weymouth bowlers never allowed them to settle into a rhythm and eventually won through with Chris Lawes (3-31) and Andrew Fulton (4-22) taking the bulk of the wickets.
Winning skipper Steve Budd said: "It was a hard day at the office. We were looking to put 200 on the board but fell 30 short.
"Simon and Andy were great and their knocks rescued us when we were 42-4. Nobsy's quickfire 16 in the last two overs was also entertaining and it gave us five batting points, which was important.
"As for our bowling and fielding it was top drawer. Even though it took a while to get that first breakthrough everyone remained focused and that is what saw us through to ensure a victory but most importantly 20 points."
Weymouth took to the crease first after they had lost the toss and Adam Condell departed in the first over for a duck with Groome showing a safe pair of hands off the bowling of Wright.
Andy Jarvis was the new man in and he shared a stand of 39 with Jonny Armfield (15) before the youngster became the first victim of three quick wickets that also saw Andrew Fulton and Will McKay both come and go without registering.
Now on 42-4 the Seasiders looked in trouble but Browne then came in and helped rebuild his side's innings alongside Jarvis. The pair put on 74 before Jarvis fell to a clever stumping by Hassall.
Shortly after that the hosts lost another three quick wickets, including Browne, before Nobbs put on his little cameo at the end of the innings.
Poole's reply started steadily but slowly with returning overseas player Brett Mugridge steaming in and causing problems with the ball even for the experienced Dave Porter (28).
The Australian, who ended up with figures of 1-35 from 12 overs, showed no signs of fatigue despite only recently recovering from an illness that at one stage looked like it might threaten his stay.
At the other end the enthusiastic Nobbs (0-34 from 11 overs) also bowled well with class and guile above his years despite not finding a breakthrough.
With Poole dropping further and further behind the run-rate the pressure finally told as Budd turned to the feisty Lawes whose pace bowling caused confusion between the visitors' two openers which resulted in the easy run out of Porter.
Lawes then trapped Harris (0) leg before with the very next ball and with Browne tucking them up at the other end Poole were clearly in trouble.
Lawes pulled off a wonderful caught and bowled to get rid of Roberts (2) and after the re-introduction of Mugridge, who grabbed his first wicket, Fulton was brought on to wrap things up which he did with 4-22.
The final wicket fell to a tough catch by Browne that he took over his head, which brought huge delight from the Weymouth spectators, whom included the Seasiders' first team.
Budd said: "I would like to thank the first teamers, whose game against Poole firsts was called off due to bad weather. They came back and supported us, which just shows how great the team spirit is at our club."
REDLANDS SCOREBOARD
WEYMOUTH SECONDS
Condell ct Groome b Wright 0
Armfield b Cotton 15
Jarvis st Hassall b Groome 45
Fulton ct Roberts b Allen 0
McKay b Allen 0
Browne b Cotton 52
Budd run out 0
Lawes ct Wright b Cotton 1
Nobbs not out 16
Voss not out 2
Extras (6lb, 34w, 1nb) 41
Total (9wkts, 45overs) 172
FoW: 1-1, 2-40, 3-42, 4-42, 5-116, 6-141, 7-144, 8-152
Bowling: Wright 5-1-13-1, Cotton 11-3-39-3, Allen 12-0-35-2, Groome 11-0-56-1, Heckford 6-1-23-0
POOLE SECONDS
Porter run out 28
J Wright lbw Lawes 9
Harrington lbw Fulton 26
Harris lbw Lawes 0
Roberts c&b Lawes 2
A Wright lbw Browne 16
Cotton b Mugridge 12
Hassall c Budd b Fulton 17
Groome c Browne b Fulton 12
Allan c Budd b Fulton 2
Heckford not out 3
Extras (6b, 8lb, 21w) 35
Total (all-out, 45overs) 162
FoW: 1-56, 2-61, 3-61, 4-63, 5-85, 6-116, 7-124, 8-152, 9-158
Bowling: Mugridge 12-2-35-1, Nobbs 11-2-34-0, Lawes 7-1-31-3, Browne 7-1-26-1, Fulton 6.4-1-22-4
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