DORSET captain Iain Donnelly remains upbeat despite watching his team miss the chance of winning the South West match play championship at Broadstone.

Donnelly’s team lost their final match 9.75 to 4.25 against Gloucestershire who snatched the trophy with their final-day victory over the hosts.

“Although it was disappointing to lose we have to take the positives out of a relatively successful week for us,” said Donnelly.

“Just 12 months ago we were going into the final game trying to avoid the wooden spoon, so to have a chance to win the title at the same stage this time round shows a big improvement.”

Dorset began the week with a victory over reigning champions Wiltshire, followed by a draw against Cornwall before toppling Devon 7.75 to 6.25.

Despite losing their penultimate game 8.25 to 5.75 to Somerset, Dorset were still in with a shout going into the final day.

“Gloucestershire’s defeat to Devon meant our loss was a dead rubber and we had everything to play for,” added Donnelly, whose team had to settle for a share of second place with Wiltshire and Cornwall.

“Ironically in the final two games it was our singles that let us down. In the past our Achilles Heel has always been the foursomes. But over the week we were 12-8 up in that department, but we ran out of steam in the head-to-head contests.”

Dorset team: Kevin Garwood (Ferndown), Matt Walker (Came Down), Giles Legg (Ferndown), Ben Churchill (Dudsbury), Jon Welch (Weymouth), Luke Joy (Broadstone), Matt Hector (Ferndown), Tom Leech (Ferndown), Daniel Smith (Parkstone), Andrew Windsor (Ferndown).