Cricket: Warminster finally found form with the bat to earn their first victory of the season on Saturday.
Captain Carl Clarke won the toss and chose to bat on a sun-soaked day in Bristol.
He then watched in delight as seven of his top eight batsmen made double figures with the only player to miss out being the captain himself, only a week after a stunning 83 against Cheltenham.
“Hopefully this can be the start of a winning run now,” said a relieved Clarke.
“We’ve struggled with the bat but everyone chipped in, apart from my duck.
“Although I’d take a poor score every week if the team was winning so I’m not too disappointed.
“It was a boiling hot day and a flat pitch. Their attack has a lot of strike bowlers who are fast-medium but it was a day where you needed to bowl short spells.
“With bowlers like they had it can take three or four overs to find your rhythm, by which time you are looking to make a change, so that factored into my thinking.”
Opener Mark Coxon Tenty (60) led the way for his side and was given more than able support by Australian all-rounder Christian Hanna.
The overseas player hit 67 from 78 balls to help build a challenging total before Gary Slade and Dave Bateman added quick runs late on.
“Mark and Christian got fifties but we just applied ourselves as a team,” said Clarke. “We had a little bit of a collapse and but for that we could have got 280-290. But once we got past 250 I was pretty happy.”
The hosts replied aggressively and were 116-2 and going strongly, before Slade broke the partnership and upset the side’s rhythm.
Hanna returned to the attack to wipe out the tailenders and finished with figures of 5-70.
“Christian has come from Australia so it has taken him a bit of time to settle but he was superb,” said Clarke.
Warminster will look for win number two when they host Keynsham on Saturday.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here