Heriot’s time their charge to perfection and seal thrilling title triumph

● But disappointment for champions as trophy fails to turn up at Goldenacre

The only time that Heriot’s hit the front of the Eastern Premiership race was on Saturday evening – but they got there when it mattered most.

Having been pacesetters for the bulk of the season, Arbroath stumbled at the final hurdle with defeat by deposed champions Carlton.

And that left the stage clear for Keith Morton’s team to sneak up on the rails to snatch the glory by brushing aside the challenge of Aberdeenshire.

The Heriot’s jubilation was, however, diluted when it emerged that there was no trophy at Goldenacre to be handed over to the newlycrowned champions.

A club insider explained: “It was all very bizarre. We heard that the trophy was at Grange Loan all day, obviously in the expectation that Arbroath would win it.

“But, despite their loss before our match finished, the silverware couldn’t find its way five miles across Edinburgh to us.

“We would even have forked out for a taxi to pick it up and bring it to Goldie.”

While skipper Morton couldn’t mask his delight, he had sympathy for Arbroath, several of whose players are close friends. Morton, pictured, said: “We were in the right place at the right time to take advantage of their situation. It will have been very tough for them to take, but they were the first people to congratulate us, which shows what kind of guys they are.

“This is definitely one of the highlights of my cricketing days. But we can’t switch off yet as we have the Grand Final against Prestwick at Meikleriggs coming up.”

Morton went on: “After losing to Glenrothes a few weeks back, our aim was to remain unbeaten in August and see where that would take us.”

It was also a huge day for veteran Kevin Mclaren, who revealed: “The match marked the end of my career and what a great way to bow out.

“I am so proud of the lads. They have worked so hard this year and, after two tough losses in cup competitions, we have got what we deserved.

“The captain and playercoach combo of Keith and Peter Ross has worked superbly for us. When these two guys came on board we laid out a five-year plan to win the league and we have achieved it in three.

“It’s never nice losing on the last day but Arbroath will come back stronger, fighting for the title next season.”

Arbroath batsman Fraser Burnett admitted: “It just wasn’t meant to be. I think the boys felt we didn’t really deserve it, as we haven’t played that well at times. I am happy for Heriot’s and my friend Keith, but we are still the winners in many respects.

“Each year we compete strongly at the top level, which is an extraordinary achievement for a side featuring so many local boys. I am proud to play for ateamlikeusandwe have without doubt the best support in Scotland.” Opener Hayes van der Berg provided the impetus for the Heriot’s victory with a superb 102, while Mark Watt hit a robust 69 – the pair putting on a stand of 151.

Chasing 216, Shire made 172, with skipper Chris Venske thumping 84 to become the leading scorer in the league.

Across the capital at Grange Loan, no Arbroath batsman was able to reach 30 as they crashed to 120 for nine in their 35 overs.

The target proved simple for Carlton, who cruised to the win with eight wickets and nine overs to spare. Rory Mccann led the way with 60 not out.

Elsewhere, Calum Garden struck an unbeaten 101 and Chris Greaves made 71 to inspire Forfarshire to victory over SMRH at Forthill.

And Watsonians eased past Falkland at Myreside.

0 Hayes van der Berg off-drives early in his match-winning century for Heriot’s on Saturday.

Champions Prestwick singing in the rain

Prestwick ended a 26-year wait for a major trophy on Saturday when they were crowned Western Premier champions.

There may have been a slight sense of anti-climax when their clash with East Kilbride at Torrance House was rained off but Andy Tennant, the Prestwick coach, was in celebratory mood when he reflected on the club’s success.

Tennant was a playing member of the Prestwick side who, as Ayrshire, won the old County Championship in 1991 but derives as much satisfaction from this triumph.

He said: “This team have now made their own bit of history. They were probably sick of hearing about the team of 1991 so they have every right to celebrate.

“Obviously we’d have preferred to have done the job on the park on Saturday but we can’t control the weather and it’s still very pleasing to have achieved what we have.

“The guys have worked really hard for this and the fact that we won ten out of our 12 games is testament to that.”

Prestwick ended the season with the two leading wicket takers in the division in Scotland prospect Mitchell Rao, who had 31 victims, and Sachin Chaudhary with four fewer, while Chaudhary’s 485 runs were also instrumental in the team’s success.

Tennant added: “It really has been a team effort but I’m especially pleased to see a local boy like Mitchell play such a big part.

“He is one

of

several youngsters we have coming through who give me a lot of optimism for the future.

“We see winning the Premier title not as an end point but as part of a journey. We are very much a work in progressandnowwewantto focus on winning the Grand Final and then on defending our title next season.”

Prestwick will get the chance to become the first team from the west to win the Grand Final when they take on Eastern Premier champions Heriot’s at Meikleriggs, Paisley, on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s cancellation also saw East Kilbride relegated from the top flight, while in the only game to beat the rain Dumfries had a three-wicket win over Poloc at Shawholm.

The weather was also the winner yesterday when finals day of the Murgitroyd National T20 Cup was abandoned at Titwood.