Champions end predictable season with Strathmore visit

No frantic finish, no final burst for the line, no nail-biting, last-minute drama.

Sorry, but the Strathmore and Perthshire NEC comes to an end this week with the sort of conclusion which is almost predictable when one side is much better than the rest and the others pick each other off to prevent a challenge to the pace-setters.

Stoneywood Dyce are deserved winners with 13 wins from 14 starts with one to play.

Their only real challengers have been Gordonians who faltered after the table-top clash with S/D at the end of July which saw them crash to a 10-wicket defeat.

The league winners finish their campaign with a trip to Strathmore.

Strathie made a decent fist of it at Peoples Park, chasing a total of 203, but came up 33 runs short and two of the players who have had a big impact on the S/D season, Liam Lindsay and Jaques Koster, had 41 runs and four for 14 respectively.

Gordonians beat Mannofield by the same margin at Countesswells that day and at that time were still well in the title chase in second place in the table.

It was not to be, although they would at least settle for a double when they meet again this week.

In their worst defeat of the season Perth Doo’cot lost by nine wickets to third-placed Meigle on a day when Peter Drummond and Neil Kimberly hit top form with the bat.

It would be sweet revenge then if they could turn that around when the sides meet at Doo’cot Park.

When Arbroath United went to Dalnacraig in June, they set Dundee HSFP a target of 177 and probably thought they were home and hosed when they had the home side at 41 for six.

Then Zaheed Rashid took a hand and blasted a magnificent 92 to win the match for Dundee who now sit a respectable fourth in the table.

Despite running up one of their best totals – 238 for seven – against Forfarshire II, Kinloch still found themselves unable to add to their solitary win in the league campaign when the pair met earlier in the season.

Will Hardie, Graeme Garden and Craig McConnachie set about their bowling to win by five wickets.

This added to Kinloch’s continuing misery and it would be ironic if they could turn it around and double their total of wins on the final day.