Kintore - 2nd June 2007 -

Kintore 118 all out, Stonehaven 76 all out.

Thistle could think themselves unlucky as a wedding, a funeral, injuries, work commitments sidelined 6 players and the decisions of a “partisan” umpire in their opinion conspired to rob them of their unbeaten record at Kintore on Saturday.

Kintore struggled from the outset losing Irvine with the score on 7 and thereafter struggled to maintain any kind of rhythm. Having clawed their way to 78 for 8 the Kintore tail wagged with skipper Russell Balsillie skillfully orchestrating the strike having survived a clear run-out decision. With Thistle unable to mop up, Kintore raced to 118 before running out of wickets.

The pick of the bowling was undoubtedly Clive Hinchcliffe, who was unlucky not to have more than one wicket and his brother Drew with 3 for 10 off 5 overs. Andrew Long who to his surprise also took 2 catches, bowled an unplayable 1 for 14 off 9 overs with 5 maidens

At 3 for 23, Alex Keith's bowling spell was brought to an abrupt halt by the “impartial” Kintore Umpire Ken Petrie after his second warning for “dangerous bowling” having been encouraged by the Kintore batsmen. (The MCC rule is that a bowler must be withdrawn on his 3rd offence.)

On the whole Thistle bowled well, maintained momentum, stayed positive throughout and Kintore were lucky to reach 95 runs off the bat. The 12 LBW appeals from Thistle falling on deaf ears. However the 16 wides hemorrhaged contributed to the 23 extras given away. By contrast the Kintore bowling would only contain 4 extras.

On what had proved to be a bowler's wicket 118 should not have posed any real problems. Unfortunately after a promising start with 15 on the board Ali Milroy succumbed to the first appeal; “the generous LBW decision” by the “Kintore” umpire not unexpected. This set the tone for the innings and soon after Alec Keith misfired on 19. Denis Garden looked to take control for a while but he too followed after a juggled catch and thereafter Drew Hinchcliffe marshalled events until he was caught on the boundary attempting yet another six to add to his 22. Thistle's tail didn't wag and after struggling for another 14 runs, losing 5 more wickets the game was up. The best bowing from Kintore came from Laird who had 4 for 24 runs.

Thistle must consider themselves unlucky as they were always well ahead of the Kintore's run-rate and the run-rate required and when the final wicket succumbed there were still 14 overs left. As the players shook hands at the end of the game (an event missing from the fixture last year when Thistle had the upper hand) Thistle realized they must take it on the chin and will have to bat more strongly in future and hiding behind an umpire's mistakes will not win them the league.

A fixture with Kintore is always guaranteed to be a good game, it is unfortunate that the behaviour of some of the Kintore team and spectators also ensure it is one that cannot be enjoyed. The match ball was sponsored by Macphies of Glenbervie.

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