SWANAGE earned further breathing space in their bid to beat the drop after collecting nine points from their two-wicket defeat by Dorset Premier League rivals Broadstone.

It opened to eight points the gap at the foot of the table between second-from-bottom Swanage and cellar-dwellers Sherborne – who meet on August 18.

Batting first at Delph Woods, Swanage posted 228 before Broadstone passed a rain-reduced target of 171 with just two wickets in hand.

Mike Salmon (32) got Swanage off to a positive start, the opener caught by Steve Trembath off the bowling of Mike Holm with the score on 33.

John Lewis and Simon Goldsack (20) put on 63 for the second wicket before Swanage slumped from 96 for one to 146 for six.

However, a stand of 55 for the seventh wicket between Lewis (76) and Ryan Norman (54) steadied the ship before both fell to Peter Thompson (2-35).

Ashley Collison (2-28), Matt Spraggs (2-39) and Holm (2-46) were also among the wickets as Swanage were dismissed for 228, their second highest total of the season.

James Park (59) and Luke Carter (44) shared 68 for the first wicket as Broadstone made a promising start to their reply.

However, after they had been parted by David Goldsack (1-37), Mike Salmon (4-21) reduced the hosts from 106 for one to 140 for four by removing Connor Tarr, Collison and Solomon Beer.

Further wickets fell to Mike Hernandez (2-49) and Craig Wells (1-19) but Trembath (24) remained undefeated as Broadstone reached 175 for eight.