Weston slipped to defeat against visitors Taunton, who are hopeful of promotion this year.

VISITING promotion hopefuls Taunton came out on top in a game that could have gone either way.

Winning the toss, Taunton asked Weston to bat first and John Davidson (13) crashed early boundaries off ex-Somerset all-rounder Ben Phillips (10-3-1-31), before top edging a pull shot behind.

Fear and Ahmed ground out the next 10 overs bringing up the 50 before Ahmed was spectacularly caught by Webber in the gully for 10. Fear followed soon after for 22 and Neave was run out without scoring.

Howson and King took Weston past 100 before King departed. Chris Davidson joined Howson and played another dogged innings, but when Howson fell lbw to Greenwood (2-18), Weston were reeling on 111-7.

Sam Goodhew (25 not out) along with some valuable late runs from Allen and Willoughby, helped Weston reach 163-9.

With seven batsman reaching double figures, but none going on to make a significant contribution, Weston need to find a way to cash in.

The Taunton innings started brightly as Perth Scorchers’ Marcus Harris punished anything loose from Stringer. Willoughby remained tight at his end as the Taunton batsman were happy to see him out.

A moment of magic from James King saw Webber (14) run out from the boundary before Chris Davidson (7.1-2-24-1) removed visiting captain Cooper. The introduction of Ash Allen (10-2-19-2) put Weston in front as he removed Lynch and Kelly.

Fear produced the ball of the day to clean bowl Harris (38) to leave Taunton at 66-5. Ben Phillips and Justin Burke steadily ticked the score over as Fear and Allen gave nothing away. Fear (10-2-42-2) had Burke well caught at slip by Ahmed and at 83-6, Weston looked to be heading to victory.

From here, a lapse in concentration allowed Phillips and Fitt extra chances as four catches went to ground. Fitt chanced his arm as he raced to 40 not out of 24 balls and it was left to Phillips (45 not out) to hit the winning runs in an excellent partnership worth 81 runs.

This was a day where Weston lost the game from good positions. The batsman need to find a way to convert their starts and an uncharacteristic display of poor fielding proved costly.

Forte Financial man of the match was Ash Allen.

On Saturday, Weston visit the newly-merged Shapwick and Polden.