Meigle in prime position to win title at Victory Park

Going into the penultimate round of a fragmented Strathmore and Perthshire NEC season which has seen just over half the fixtures completed, including last week’s total washout, it will take total meltdown for Meigle to miss out on taking the title.

Boasting a 100% record, they take on Mannofield at Victory Park where a win would see them clinch the league and, although they were not out of sight of Forfarshire 2nd last time out, the way they ground out a result again showed just how difficult they are to beat.

Third-bottom Mannofield wouldn’t mind stopping Meigle doing a double over them having lost at home by seven wickets and coming off a real doing at the hands of Falkland a fortnight ago by 205 runs.

If Meigle do go into self-destruct mode, the only team who can catch them is Strathmore, who take on Forfarshire 2nd at Lochpark.

Strathmore won last time they met by seven wickets but their opponents now have three ticks in the win column, three more than when the two faced off earlier in the season, as well as having put up that decent chase against Meigle a couple of weeks ago.

A horrendous mid-season dip in form scuttled any chance ASI Gordonians might have had in making a title challenge but they could hold on to fifth spot in the table with a win against Kinloch at Countesswells. They scraped past Arbroath United a fortnight ago by five runs but against a Kinloch side, winless and in bottom slot, thanks to an Aman Arora century they won their previous encounter by 169 runs.

Fourth from bottom Arbroath United come off that narrow defeat against ASI Gordonians to face sixth-placed Perth Doocot who won their earlier encounter by 72 runs.

Perth will have the boost of coming very close to Dundee a fortnight ago when, in a low-scoring match, they came within one wicket of stopping Dundee passing their total of 86.

Dundee HSFP travel to Falkland looking to do a double having nicked their last meeting by five wickets.

From third in the table they cannot shoot for the top but they will hope to do better than that low-scoring win over Perth, while Falkland have proved to have been desperately unlucky in that – like Perth Doocot, Mannofield and Strathmore – they have only been able to complete eight of their 16 scheduled games, of which they have won four.