Chalke Valley beat Beaminster by eight wickets

BEAMINSTER’S hopes of retaining their place in County Division One were dented by a crushing eight-wicket loss at Chalke Valley.

Had they not lost six games to poor weather, Chalke would likely have been top of the league.

Instead, they lie 20 points behind champions elect Witchampton, while Beaminster’s interests lie at the other of the standings.

Chris Park’s men are now ten points behind Swanage and 18 behind Puddletown in the final two safe positions.

READ MORE: Beaminster beat Portland Red Triangle by 58 runs

To stay up, they must beat Wimborne Seconds at home on Saturday and hope Hamworthy and Swanage both lose against Witchampton and Chalke respectively.

The defeat at Chalke thrust them into this predicament, following a stale batting performance.

The accuracy and relentlessness of Valley’s attack made it difficult for Beaminster to get the ball away and they could only muster 140-6 from 45 overs.

Ross Baker and Ollie Bareham both finished unbeaten on 28, with Joe Weld claiming an impressive 3-19.

Weld was in red-hot form with the bat in Chalke’s reply, all of his 38 runs coming in boundaries as he plundered five fours and three sixes before Simon Jones (1-17) had him caught.

However, Ollie Senior (72no) continued the sustained assault with 15 boundaries of his own, despite Baker (1-31) removing Guy Souch (10).

Senior was joined by Benji Tucker (16no), who also laid into the Beaminster attack with two fours and a six as Chalke wrapped up their chase in just 22.2 overs.

Park said: “They just did what Chalke Valley seem to do. They bowled really well and 140 was never going to be enough.

“Nobody batted badly, we just couldn’t get the ball away.

“When it came to the bowling, it was turning square and we thought we might be able to get a couple of early ones but it didn’t quite work out.

“Joe Weld, first ball, defended one and it trickled back and missed the stumps by a millimetre. He smashed us everywhere after that. They were just too good.”

Assessing his side’s chances of staying up, Park added: “It’s in the lap of the gods a little bit. We can only try and get our 20 points and hope results go our way.

“It’s sod’s law that Puddletown and Swanage beat top-of-the-table teams last week, you’d never have expected those results to happen.

“That’s the situation we’re faced with. We’re capable of beating Wimborne, like most teams, so if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.

“If not, we’ll roll up our sleeves next year and try again.”

Beaminster make just one change to their side, with Jones replaced by James Edmunds.

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