Stoneywood-Dyce suffered a heavy defeat in the Eastern Premier League on Saturday against title-chasing Carlton who bowled the People’s Park side out for 69 when chasing the Edinburgh side’s 297 for the loss of nine wickets.
It could have been so different had the Aberdeen side kept up the pressure of the first over of the capital side’s innings in which Jamie King the Stoneywood-Dyce captain reduced them to two down for no runs.
Even at 38 for two after 10 overs, the home side were still in the game, only to fade out of the contest against a Grange Loan side packed with batting talent, some of them current and former internationalists.
Ali Khan was particularly hard on the home bowling attack, hitting a superb 94 before being stumped by Andrew Maclaren off the bowling of Leighton Collins when attempting to bring up his century with a six.
The same bowler also dismissed the troublesome Fraser Burnett but not before the former Arbroath United batsman had stroked his way to an explosive 81.
The home bowlers stuck manfully to the job, but on on a track and a day designed for runs, it was an uphill task.
Batting woes persist for People’s Park side
The final over of the innings from young Jack Lambley raised cheer in which he took three wickets to give some respectability to the home attack.
The pick of the Stoneywood- Dyce bowlers were Collins, with two for 42, and George Ninan who wheeled in for nine overs, taking two for 45, although King deserves a special mention for his early breakthroughs, even if his team did not cash in.
Not for the first time this season the home batting was not up to muster, losing wickets at regular intervals with only Andrew Rayner hanging around for any length of time.
His sensible no-nonsense batting yielded 23 runs making him the only People’s Park batsman to reach double figures on a day when the club who had hoped to make it three wins in a row.
King said: “It wasn’t our best performance but Carlton are a good all-round side.”
Sunday setback for Stoneywood-Dyce
Stoneywood-Dyce endured two Eastern Premier League defeats at the weekend, failing to shrug off Saturday’s reverse at home to Carlton when they travelled to Meigle to play the bottom side in the division.
The People’s Park were put into bat, and for the first time this season gave their bowlers a target to aim at and captain Jamie King was frustrated his side were unable to get the victory.
He said: “Our 204 for the loss of eight wickets was one of our best this season but we gave away 70 runs early on, allowing them to cruise to victory for the loss of only four down.
“It’s very disappointing but we are still clear of the relegation area, and intend to stay there.
“We have some winnable games coming up.”
Ewan Davidson top scored with a classy 55, while Andrew Maclaren also notched up a half century of his own.
The Aberdeenshire Cup final will be contested by Aberdeen Grammar and Gordonians who eased past Knight Riders and Crescent with comfortable wins in the semi-finals.
Grammar kept themselves on track for a league and cup double, hunting down Knight Riders 233 for the loss of only four wickets. Gordonians had a similarly easy passage to the final, which will be played at Mannofield on Sunday August 22, enjoying a six wicket win after easing past Crescent’s total of 156.
