Stoneywood-Dyce’s troubles with the bat continued on Saturday in the Eastern Premier League against Grange.
Should the People’s Park men wish to avoid being caught up in a relegation dogfight they will need to improve their dismal batting form which in the opening four weeks has yielded only 418 runs at an average of 104 per game.
On Saturday they managed only 99 at Grange to fall 247 runs short of the home total of 346.
That total is in stark contrast to their Edinburgh opponents who have notched up 894 runs at at average of 227, over double that of the Aberdeen side.
Stoneywood-Dyce captain Jamie King, acknowledged his batsmen have struggled in the opening games.
He said: “It’s been a difficult four weeks for us, and of course we have underachieved with the bat but it’s still early days.
“I have total confidence in my batting line up. They will come good, sooner rather than later.
“We are playing against sides who are getting regular practice, even last year at the height of the pandemic, while we had three or four friendly games last season.
“Our bowlers are as good as any in the league.”
Grange won the toss and elected to bat on a flat track, racking up 346 for the loss of nine wickets, including an unbeaten 130 from Scotland player Tom Sole, the son of David, the legendary captain of the Scotland rugby Grand Slam in 1990.
Stoneywood-Dyce made life hard for themselves, dropping him twice in his otherwise splendid knock.
The visitors bowling attack toiled in the warm Edinburgh sun but stuck to the task.
Spinner George Ninan was the pick of the People’s Park bowlers, returning three for 50, while David Kidd never gave up, although his two wickets for 85 were expensive acquisitions.
The Stoneywood-Dyce reply was soon in trouble, slumping to half the side being out for 41, this despite a gritty 22 from No 3 batsman Jan Stander before the South African became one of the five victims of former Scotland player Gordon Goudie.
The Stoneywood- Dyce favourite went on to return five for 27 in what was the unkindest cut of all for the visitors.
“To be undone by a former player was hard to take,” said King.
Wicketkeeper Andy Maclaren manfully tried to get the total to three figures before running out of partners and was left unbeaten on a very respectable 28.
A game with third placed Heriots now beckons on Saturday for King’s men.
Scottish Cup setback for Shire and Stoney
Aberdeenshire and Stoneywood-Dyce crashed out in the second round of the Scottish Cup yesterday.
Stoneywood-Dyce’s weekend of misery continued in Glasgow where they were no match for Clydesdale who racked up 284 for six before bowling out the People’s Park side for 129 to win by 155 runs.
Captain Jamie King said: “It’s not a good feeling, but we will learn from these experiences. We’ll now get ready for the challenge of Heriots on Saturday.”
Aberdeenshire made a better fist of their home game with Drumpellier, bowling the Coatbridge team out for 142, only to fail to hunt down the relatively low total, collapsing to 80 all out, saved only by a tidy knock of 25 from Will Morgan.
Stand-in captain Lewis Munro was disappointed in the outcome.
“After bowling well, we failed to take advantage,” he said.
