GOATACRE captain Brad Dawson admitted his side were “completely hammered” by Taunton Deane in a Premier Two clash they will quickly want to forget.

Dawson’s team lost their last six wickets for eight runs to end up falling 100 runs short of Taunton’s 220-9 on Saturday, a disappointing return from their trip to Somerset.

Speaking honestly after the game, the Goatacre skipper accepted that his players would have to move on from the result as soon as possible.

He said: “It was a bit of tough one. Their bowler came on and his spell was four for nought before he bowled a wide, he cleaned us up. It got to the point where you just want it to be over.

“I looked at the league and everyone else in that league is played two, won one and lost one apart from them. I fancy our chances against four or five of the other teams in the league.

“They’re a good team, they’ll probably go up. It’s not like we lost by a couple of runs, we were completely hammered.”

Having won the toss and elected to field first, Goatacre struck twice early on before a third-wicket partnership of 125 between Robert Woodman and Sam Shaikh laid the foundations from which Taunton could mount a late-innings offensive.

However, debutant seamer Dan Ellis - a winter signing from Wootton Bassett - pitched in with 4-27 to restrict the hosts to a modest 220-9 from their 50 overs.

In reply, Ed Kilbee and Ed Wilkins put on 45 for the opening wicket for Goatacre but after Kilbee nicked a Daniel Mulligan delivery to wicketkeeper Paul Tweddle, the floodgates opened.

Tweddle ended with five dismissals and Woodman with remarkable figures of 4-7 from two overs as the lower order capitulated for Goatacre.

“We won the toss and bowled first and Woodman and their other batter could have got them up to 300, but Dan Ellis came in for his first game and bowled proper well and took 4-27, which was brilliant for him really,” said Dawson.

“That’s made it pretty obvious that he’s going to be playing for the next few weeks.

“Jif Wilkins bowled quite well in the middle - they were 130-odd for two off 25 and threatening to go and to keep them down to 220 was good.

“Batting wise we started well and were 40-0 then Kilbee played a loose shot and got out, the other openers got out and from there on it kept going.

“A few decisions didn’t go our way.”