BEAMINSTER 230 (6pts) lost to COMPTON HOUSE 232-3 (20pts) by seven wickets

BEAMINSTER toiled in the field as Compton House chased down their 231 target with a staggering 16 overs of their County Division One clash remaining.

The hosts were sitting pretty in their bottom-of-the-table meeting having amassed a total in excess of five runs per over.

Ross Baker’s fine 60 headlined the innings, along with an inexcusable 65 extras from a wayward House attack.

Adam Moss (25), skipper Will Moss (20) and Chris Park (19) also made good contributions to get Beaminster up to 230 all out, Warren Day the pick of the House bowlers with 3-30.

READ MORE: Will Moss named new Beaminster captain

Beaminster then made a good start with the ball, Simon Jones snaffling two wickets as House were checked at 40-2 at the 10-over mark.

Joel Enticott made a quick 34 from 20 balls before he fell to Ollie Bareham (1-42) as House reached 64-3.

However, the visitors then feasted on poor bowling and catching from Beaminster.

Ever dependable Giles Reynolds weighed in with 60 not out, but the star of the show was Thomas Johnson.

The all-rounder, who was dropped five times, blasted an incredible 102 not out from 48 balls, including nine sixes and nine boundaries to put Beaminster to the sword.

Speaking to the Bridport News, Beaminster captain Moss said: “At the halfway stage we were pretty confident.

“After 10 overs and them being 40-2 we were well ahead. All of a sudden the next 12 overs completely took the game away from us.

“Fair play to the lad. We dropped him five times but he pushed on and made us pay for it.”

And Moss is under no illusions as to where improvements must come at Portland on Saturday (1pm).

“Definitely the bowling,” he insisted.

“Especially against the aggressive nature of Portland we cannot afford to bowl as many loose deliveries as we did, otherwise we’re going to get punished.

“We’ve got to be more disciplined with our lines and lengths and hit the right areas, otherwise it could be carnage.”

Beaminster will make a late call on selection but one definite change comes as Ben Golledge replaces Chris Park.