Mohammed wary of Dons in Shires battle

Forfar will be in buoyant mood as they welcome Aberdeen to Forthill today in the battle of the Shires.

But as host skipper Um air Mohammed emphasised, the Dons will arrive in equally confident fettle.

He said: “They are always dangerous -– and they showed their talents to the full last weekend by claiming the scalp of champions Heriot’s on their own turf.

“That was no easy task and the result will be stark reminder to us that they are not a team to be taken lightly in any way.”

Mohammed’s troops go into the fray after pulling off an equally meritorious and emphatic victory over Arbroath at Lochlands.

So recent form would suggest that an intriguing spa ti son the cards at B rough ty Ferry.

Arbroath face a tricky jaunt to Myreside to face a Watsonians line-up refreshed by their success at the expense of Glenrothes.

Lichties skipper Marc Petrie said: “So ni ans are definitely a much better side than the table suggests at the moment and I’m sure they will be ready to go on a big run at any moment. With some of the game winners they have, we have to be very wary.

“We were very disappointed with last weeks performance, we were second best in every department and it simply wasn’t good enough. But training has been productive this week and we feel we are ready to bounce back.”

Heriot’s will be fancied to quickly repair some of the damage as they face struggling Glens at Gilvenbank.

All three top-grade Tayside and Fife outfits are on Scottish Cup duty 24 hours later.

Arbroath entertain Meigle, who were re-admitted to the tournament in spite of their home defeat by West of Scotland.

It was discovered that the Glasgow club had mistakenly drafted in an ineligible player to replace another who had called off injured.

West were quick to own up to the error and issued an apology to Meigle and Cricket Scotland.

Meigle stalwart Peter Drummond showed sympathy to West, saying: “It is a bit of a shame. It was a totally unintentional act.

“They were a joy to play against and approached the game in a great spirit.

“In today’s smaller world it is maybe a ruling that could be revised by Cricket Scotland in the future.”

Forfarshire – conquerors of Watsonians in the last round – return to Edinburgh to clash with Grange.

And Glen roth es’ win against Gree no ck has earned them a home meeting with Carlton.