Hard work is key to Shire’s lofty position

ABERDEENSHIRE’S rise to the top of the SNCL Premier Division is no accident, nor is it an overnight success story, insists captain Matt Hays.

The Shire sit proudly as leaders of the Premier Division at the halfway stage of the campaign, but Hays believes the start to the campaign is due to the work the players have put in during the last 18 months at Mannofield.

He said: “We are delighted to be leading at this stage and obviously it has gone really well for us so far, but it has been the culmination of 18 months of hard work by everyone at the club.

“Last season in the First Division we learned the way to win tight games and we have carried that on this year by edging close matches.

“There has been a lot of hard work put in by everyone and Neil Macrae has done a lot of work behind the scenes in coaching the players. I am sure it must be very satisfying for him to see the younger members of the team showing the form and consistency, not only in competing against Premier Division calibre players, but dominating them.”

Shire make the trip to Clydesdale tomorrow to face the only team to have beaten them this season.

Chris West, fresh from his five wicket haul against Uddingston last weekend, misses the game as he is attending a wedding, but wicketkeeper Colin Smith returns.

Hays said: “There is a little bit of extra motivation to win this one. The home game against Clydesdale was one we threw away.

“We needed four runs to win and had two wickets remaining, but we couldn’t get across the line and ended up losing.”