BEAMINSTER 103 (5pts) lost to STALBRIDGE 269-9 (20pts) by 166 runs

BEAMINSTER lost ground in the fight for County Division One survival thanks to a 166-run thrashing by Stalbridge at the Memorial Ground.

Chris Park’s men remain ninth but now trail eighth-placed Puddletown, in the final safe position, by 20 points with six matches remaining.

More worryingly for Beaminster is their lack of wins this season, only twice tasting victory.

And against Stalbridge, one of the most experienced and established Division One sides, they were never given a look in after winning the toss and choosing to bowl first.

George Coleman scored a magnificent chanceless 123 and was well backed up by 52 from skipper James Lewis.

READ MORE: Rain robs Beaminster of victory chance against Puddletown

Stuart Sweatman (21) and Steve Forshaw (24no) also made valuable contributions and 30 extras bumped Stalbridge’s total up to 269-9, despite 4-45 from Ross Baker.

Stalbridge were able to count on the experience of Forshaw with the ball as he took 4-17 to effectively end the game as a contest.

Will Moss (16) top scored but all the Stalbridge bowlers took wickets, Benjamin Pattle (2-7) wrapping up the innings for just 103 by dismissing number 11 Paul Edwards for a battling 14.

Speaking to the Bridport News, Park said: “They were fantastic. We had a deluge of rain in the morning and I got sucked into the fact it was so wet on a used pitch.

“It was actually really hard and in hindsight I should’ve batted first. Coleman came in, didn’t give us a chance and we were chasing the game from then on.

“We didn’t bowl great again and couldn’t set a field for anything.

“Then, when it came to batting, they gave us nothing. They bowled line and length, hit the top of off and we couldn’t get any partnerships together.”

With his side in relegation peril, Park called on his players to step up at Witchampton on Saturday (1pm).

“We need to show more fight,” he said. “I’m not expecting us to go there and turn them over.

“As long as we fight harder than we did last week, anything else is a bonus. We’re in for a scrap now.

“We’re good enough to stay up but individuals have to take responsibility and not rely on the old heads. We’ve all got to start chipping in.

“We’ve worked too hard to get to this level in the last couple of years and I don’t want to throw it away.”

Beaminster: Runyard, W Moss, Golledge, A Moss, Baker, Park, Bareham, Edmunds, Fry, Handford, Edwards.