The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Arbroath victory should kickstart tricky season
EASTERN PREMIERSHIP: Ramsay and McLean turn it on for Lochlands outfit
We’re back in the race – that was the battle cry from stand-in Arbroath skipper Ross McLean and his men in the wake of their victory over Stew-Mel in Edinburgh on Saturday.
The Lochlands outfit endured a tricky first half of the season, suffering four defeats.
Availability of leading players was an issue, with usual captain Marc Petrie never once having the luxury of a full squad from which to choose.
It was always going to be a campaign of transition in the wake of the retirement of a couple of front-liners but there is no question Arbroath struggled in matches most would expect them to win.
So perhaps the success at Inverleith will provide a dose of confidence for the second half of the term.
Stew-Mel were dismissed for 180 in the 48th over, with spinner Craig Ramsay marking his return to action by being the pick of the attack with three for 34.
Then McLean dug in to produce a fine knock of 76, which proved to be the backbone of the successful pursuit.
The winning margin was four wickets and they got there with more than four overs to spare.
Forfarshire’s challenge suffered a dent as they crashed to Watsonians at Myreside.
Responding to 235 for nine, Sonians cruised to victory with four wickets and more than four overs to spare. Mike Carson was the hosts’ main man with 76; Brock Ditchmen had hit 47 and Craig Wallace 35 for Shire but Carson’s knock sealed their fate.
Basement boys Glenrothes were swept aside by Carlton at Grange Loan to the tune of nine wickets.
Meanwhile, there is no change at the top of the Strathmore and Perthshire NEC.
It did Arbroath United no favours that Stoneywood Dyce batted first at Lochlands and they were left with a target of 237 to catch, which proved well beyond them.
Liam Lindsay cracked an unbeaten century for S/D, with Shaun Coetzer adding 46. Then, with Arbroath struggling to a total of 84 in 26 overs, Coetzer did most damage with the ball, taking three wickets for two runs.
That 153-run defeat leaves Arbroath anchored at the bottom of the table behind Dundee HSFP, who batted first at Dalnacraig but suffered from the problem that has haunted them all season – not being able to post a challenging target.
Hayden Evans top-scored for Dundee with 31, Justin Haddon took 3-8 and, when he came together with James Musgrave after the openers had gone for 44, they saw Mannofield home with knocks of 72 (Musgrave) and 40 (Haddon).
In what promised to be the match of the day at Countesswells, it proved to be a more comfortable win than might have been expected for joint league leaders Falkland.
They faced chasing an ASI Gordonians total of 192-9 but had the match well won with nine overs and four wickets to spare.
Arya Pol and Himanshu Saraswat with 42 and 39 respectively helped put a decent target on the board for Gordonians but despite Amam Arora’s 4-39, Harsha Cooray’s 63 and 34 from Connor Langlands helped Falkland to victory.
The best entertainment of the day was at Forfarshire where mote than 500 runs were scored.
Meigle set out their stall with 284-8, thanks to a superb 114 from Raju Gatyashan, backed up Marcus Harvey (37) and Jamie Morrison’s unbeaten 31.
Shire seconds had a real go at grabbing the points with R Rennie (73) and Andrew Wallace’s 35 cracking the score along but they ran out of overs while 29 runs short.