DORSET warmed up for their South Eastern County League curtain-raiser against Hampshire with a morale-boosting 11½-3½ victory against the Army at Wareham.
Debutants Aaron Bullock, Harry Collins, Steffen Foley, Tom Lawrence and Justin Morris joined experienced county campaigners Giles Legg, Harry Mitchell, Brad Cox, Robbie Mabb and Andy Robson in the Dorset team.
Cox (Dudsbury) and Foley (Parkstone) led the way with a comprehensive 5&3 win in the opening foursomes.
Further victories followed for Mabb (Parkstone) and Lawrence (Sherborne), Robson (Parkstone) and Morris (Ferndown) and Collins (Dudsbury) and Bullock (Remedy Oak) as Dorset established a 4-1 lead at lunch.
And wins in the singles from Foley, Collins, Morris, Robson, Mabb, Mitchell (Ferndown) and Legg (Ferndown), coupled with a halved match involving Cox, which was aborted at the turn due to injury to his opponent, saw them edge to victory despite the scoreline.
Dorset had to dig deep in the singles with six of the seven matches going up the last but they found another gear to convert five of the tighter ones into wins.
Dorset face Hampshire at Liphook on May 14.
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