Severe blow to Forthill hopes

Forthill’s hopes of a successful title defence may have suffered a mortal blow as Meigle maintained their challenge with an 84-run win at Broughty Ferry on Saturday.

It was second versus third, with the home side enjoying a slender advantage at the start.

By the end, the sides had swapped places in the chase to catch leaders Gordonians.

Batting first, Meigle openers Roland Thorne and Steve Knight fell cheaply.

Worse followed when Peter Drummond lost his wicket. He had made just 11 when he was stumped to be dismissed for only the second time in the league this season.

There was an excellent fourthwicket stand between Tom Duff and Matthew Farmer.

Both reached half-centuries, with Duff hitting seven boundaries in his 53 while big-hitting Farmer plundered 13 boundaries and one maximum in a brilliant 88.

They fell to youngster Craig McConnachie, who claimed 4-57 as Meigle’s innings petered out.

However, with 240 runs on the board, the villagers were able to go on the attack and applied the pressure impressively so that none of the home batsmen could dominate.

Forthill’s best contributions came from Nic Green and Adam Hill with 35 and 25 respectively, but Farmer completed an excellent all-round performance with 4-42 to seal Meigle’s victory.

Forthill will not throw in the towel and the same applies to Arbroath United, who retained their place in the top four with an easy win at Strathmore.

United had to battle hard for their 178-9 on a tricky Lochside Park track, but their bowlers then dominated to dismiss Strathie for 128.

Gordonians showed little sign of loosening their grip on top spot after prevailing by 39 runs in a Granite City derby against Mannofield at Countesswells.

Krutik Patel’s 52 underpinned a total of 159 before any hopes of a successful Mannofield chase were snuffed-out by Swapnil Rane’s 4-32.