Joy at Forthill as Forfarshire secure league

SPORTS

WHILE Craig Wallace and Michael Leask were prov id i ng their skills to sec u re Scot la nd a v ictor y over Papua New Guinea at Ma n nofield, thei r club side, For fa rsh i re, we re winning their first E aste r n P re m ie r Cricket Division title.

The Dundee side won the toss against Carlton at Forthill after a huge amount of water was cleared by the Forthill groundstaff and they decided to have a bat.

They lost Jack Hogarth and Rory Johnston early.

However, Chris Greaves and the experienced Ryan Watson steadied the ship and put on a pivotal partnership of 80.

When Greaves was out for his well-made 68, Callum Garden came in to bat with Watson and the pair looked to rebuild until Corne Dry got the big wicket of Watson and Forfarshire lost a cluster of three wickets in quick succession.

Brock Ditchmen joined Garden at the crease and the pair looked to bat aggressively towards the end of the innings.

This paid off for the pair with Garden whacking 54 and Ditchmen hitting a useful 28 not out to take Forfarshire to 251-8 after their 50 overs.

As usual, Bryce Allchin and Scott Cameron bowled very economically at the start to instantly put pressure on the Edinburgh side.

The Dundee outfit put on a clinical display in the field to ensure they won the game by 130 runs to set the home crowd into raptures.

The wickets were shared around for the Forfarshire side.

Meanwhile, veteran John Blain produced a master class of 10 overs for 5-13 to bowl Watsonians out for a mere 44 in their match against Grange.

Grange made light work of the chase, getting the runs in only four overs with Oli Hairs whacking 33 not out.

The rain fell hard at Arbroath which meant their game against Heriot’s was reduced to a 29 over a side game.

The Lichties batted first and made 122-6 with Freddie Synman and Hayden Laing making 30 each and skipper Mark Petrie making 21.

Unfortunately, more rain fell and the game was cut short with the Edinburgh side 41-1 with Craig Ramsey taking the only wicket.

Elsewhere, rain resulted in the cancellations of the Stewart’s-Melville-RHC game and also the derby between Aberdeenshire and Stoneywood Dyce.

In the Strathmore Union, leaders Meigle got the better of Mannofield by 111 runs to secure their first league for a while.

Justin Thomas held his nerve to clinch victory at the BMW Championship in Medinah by three shots. He held off compatriot Patrick Cantlay and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama.