BLANDFORD skipper Kev Robbins has thrown down the gauntlet for next year after all but conceding defeat in the chase for this season's Premier Division title.

Despite securing a 10th consecutive victory by beating Wayfarers on Saturday, Blandford failed to claim maximum points and now look too far adrift of leaders Dorchester going into the final round of fixtures.

Robbins, who has seen his side remain unbeaten since the middle of May, was quick to admit his team now seem to have too much to do, ahead of next weekend's match at Suttoners.

He said: "I think mathematically it's still achievable, but realistically the win secured second place.

"We'll require a minor miracle for results to fall our way if we are to overhaul Dorchester. The title is as good as theirs now.

"It would've been nice to take it to the final game of the season, but it was an odd game on Saturday."

Having scored 234 for three batting first, largely thanks to an unbeaten century from Nick Baker, Blandford looked to be struggling when Wayfarers reached 90 for two at the midway point in reply.

But Robbins described himself as "quite baffled" when his relegation-threatened opponents appeared to play out time instead of attempting to chase the target, eventually finishing 43 runs short with two wickets in hand.

"On a dead wicket, that made it very tough to take wickets," he told the Daily Echo.

"It was very frustrating with only one team trying to win the game, but that's up to them."

Rather than getting downbeat at what looks like a missed opportunity, Robbins preferred to look ahead to next term, adding: "We've had a fantastic season. We've won 10 on the bounce and no one would've predicted we'd finish second.

"We've made massive strides and several young players have taken massive steps forward.

"It sets us up nicely for another go at the title."

FIZZLING TO A FINISH

POOLE Town's season continued to fizzle out as they were narrowly beaten by Premier Division leaders Dorchester.

Poole, whose title hopes have disappeared in recent weeks, saw Dorchester close in on the top-flight crown as they edged to a six-run success on Saturday.

Batting first on a slow Poole Park wicket, Dorchester struggled to 51 for three at the halfway point, with Martin Ford (1-12 off 10 overs) particularly effective.

A solid partnership of 63 for the sixth wicket between Shannon Dunnett (41) and Rob Waite (38) saw Dorchester eventually finish on 155 for eight.

Kristian Wilson (2-23) and Matt Macdiarmid (2-42) also produced notable performances with the ball for the hosts.

In reply, four of the first five Poole batsmen got a start, but only Ford (39) played anything like a potential match-winning innings.

The five Dorchester seamers all bowled within the required run rate (Waite 2-23, Dunnett 2-27 and Peter Moxom (2-29) to earn their side a hard-fought victory.

  • In the weekend's other top-flight matches, Parley (234-8) beat Wimborne and Colehill (233-8) by two wickets, in-form Suttoners (131) got the better of a low-scoring contest against reigning champions Broadstone (110) and whipping boys Compton House (54) were thrashed by Weymouth (55-0).