LADY Luck may have again deserted Bournemouth – but Martin Miller insisted they must do more to lure her back.

The Lions captain was left to rue fortune favouring the opposition at crucial times as Havant left Chapel Gate with a four-wicket victory, passing Bournemouth’s total of 197 with fewer than two overs to spare.

However, with his two openers departing without scoring and three dropped catches in the field, Miller felt his men could have done more to close the small margins.

After Alex Keath and Dom Hand had both fallen for ducks, Ryan Scott (73) carried the fight with Alex Allum (31) and Pete Smith (37) both chipping in.

Despite rallying to a respectable total, the hosts were soon on the back foot as Peter Hopson (50) and Robert Gibson (40) put on 92 for the first wicket.

Matt Mixer (3-58) took two quick wickets to dismiss the pair, but Chris Morgan (34), Chris Stone (28) and Steven Dean (28) contributed well to keep the visitors in control before edging their way to victory on 200 for six.

And although his team battled manfully in the face of their early setbacks, Miller called for more of a roar from his struggling Lions.

He told the Daily Echo: “We need to up our game because we can’t keep dropping the catches we have. There were five at South Wilts last week and another three against Havant and it prevents us putting pressure on these teams when we don’t take them.

“It is something we have got to cut out if we want to be competitive and it is disappointing, especially after the team had rallied after lunch to post a competitive total.

“We have had absolutely no luck this season and our tale of woe continued. We won the toss and decided to bat because the pitch looked very flat, but that proved to be deceptive.

“We thought we would try to post a solid total and put some pressure on Havant.

“Alex Keath tried to place a shot for a single but caught the inside edge and dragged it on to the stumps and then Dom Hand caught a leading edge.

“It could have gone anywhere but landed kindly for them and, from nowhere, we were two down without scoring.

“Then, I was run out at the non-striker’s end and everything that could have gone against us did.

“We battled back but were 30 or 40 short of making life difficult for Havant.

“Had we got those extra few runs, we could have put a lot more pressure on them in the field.

“There were plenty of positives and we have proved we can be competitive.

“We are just not all scoring like we can in the same game. When we do, it will put us in with a really good shout.”