Weston defeated Corsham by six runs in a thriller encounter at Devonshire Road.

WESTON welcomed Corsham to Devonshire Road and edged a thriller to move up to fourth place in Premier One.

After again losing the toss, openers Andy Fear and John Davidson found themselves on the difficult end of some tricky conditions.

After Fear (7) was bowled, Corsham brought spin into the attack. With the outfield slow and soft runs were hard to come by, Davidson (7), Shabil Ahmed (13), John Williams (17) and Rob Turner (12) all knuckled down to get through the overs. However, none were able to kick on and Weston found themselves 74-5. Sam Trego (29) joined Gary Morgan and the pair put on 36 for the sixth wicket with Trego choosing the aerial route in an attempt to counter the pressure.

With the momentum changing, Charl Willoughby was promoted up the order to attack, but when he was caught at slip Weston were back in trouble at 110-7.

After being dropped on nought, Chris Davidson helped Morgan see Weston into the last eight overs before going after the attack. In a four-over burst, they took the score beyond 150 before Morrison trapped Davidson lbw for 17.

Morgan then cut loose, clearing the ropes and scoring freely on his way to an excellent 48. The innings eventually ended with Weston all out for 184.

Weston got off to a great start as Sean Stringer (1-15) removed dangerman Mike Coles. However, Ashur Morrison went on the counter attack, but the introduction of Trego had Toby Davies caught at slip before Shabil Ahmed bowled Morrison (33) before drinks.

After failing to find his line and length, a change of end for Ash Allen (2-45) brought two quick wickets as John Davidson and Charl Willoughby both took sharp catches.

Visiting captain Peter Dennett joined Steve Bullen and the pair put Corsham back on track, but the return of Willoughby (2-32) saw Bullen caught behind and Jonathan Parker lbw two balls later.

Corsham rallied again though and moved on to 152-7 before a quick stumping by Davidson off Trego removed Simon Crampton. Trego followed this up with the ninth wicket shortly after, leaving Corsham 34 behind.

The stranded Dennett (38 not out) refused to give in and after several lusty blows, found his side just six runs from victory. However, Joe King was unable to see off the excellent Trego (4-22) and fittingly the veteran off-spinner took a fine diving caught and bowled to seal the victory.

This was a superb effort by Weston and in such a tight game Weston’s excellent fielding performance proved the difference between the two totals.

The InTouchCRM man of the match was shared by Sam Trego and Gary Morgan.

WESTON

A Fear b Parker 1

J Davidson c Coles b Foley 7

S Ahmed st Bullen b Robbins 13

J Williams b King 17

R Turner c Davies b Foley 12

G Morgan b Morrison 48

S Trego lbw King 29

C Willoughby c Coles b King 0

C Davidson lbw Morrison 17

S Stringer c King b Parker 8

A Allen not out 1

Extras 25

Total 184

CORSHAM

T Davies c Turner b Trego 12

M Coles b Stringer 0

A Morrison b Ahmed 33

S Bullen c J Davidson b Willoughby 46

S Collier c Willoughby b Allen 6

P Robbins C J Davidson b Allen 1

P Dennett not out 38

J Parker lbw Willoughby 0

S Crampton st Davidson b Trego 14

T Foley b Trego 0

J King c&b Trego 3

Extras 25

Total 178

Bowling: C Willoughby 10-1-32-2; S Stringer 3-1-15-1; A Allen 10-2-45-2; S Trego 9.4-3-22-4; S Ahmed 8-1-26-1; A Fear 7-0-28-0.

This weekend sees the first team travel to Taunton St Andrews (12.30pm start), with the seconds hosting the same opposition at Devonshire Road (1.30pm).

The thirds travel to Bishops Lydeard (2pm), while the 4th team play host to Lympsham 2nds on the East Ground (2pm).

The Sunday XI travel to Bristol Pakistanis at the same time as the ladies team play their first home game of the season against Wells.