Stonehaven Thistle travelled to Allan Park to play Cults in an important match to see if Thistle could remain top of Grade 1. Stonehaven Skipper Clive Hinchcliffe won the toss and as usual in this grade of cricket asked the opposition to bat.

Thistle players were ready for the task ahead and everyone was pumped up to put on a good show and restrict the batting side to as few runs as possible. Hinchcliffe opened the bowling as usual and was paired with Jonno Van De Ruit; the pair kept things tight initially and were unlucky not to pick up some early wickets; Clive bowling line and length and Jonno bowling more aggressively. It was Jonno who made the breakthrough in the 5th over when he trapped Spearman LBW with the score on 22. The batsman coming in (Swampnil) scored freely and the score was pushed onto 51 before a great piece of fielding by J Van De Ruit saw him throw the ball from the boundary and keeper Milroy took off the bails to run the batsman out.

A double bowling change was made and Alex Keith replaced Hinchcliffe, whilst the younger Van De Ruit (Chris) replaced his brother. Again 5 overs into the change the bowlers broke though as Chris bowled the Cults opener Kapil for 28 runs with the score on 79. Alex Keith, not one to miss a party, then had his sole wicket in the form of a catch by Matt Jenkins in the covers. Chris Van De Ruit then bowled the best spell of bowling he has produced since joining Stonehaven as he picked up another 5 wickets for just 11 runs with catches from Andrew Hinchcliffe, Matthew Jenkins and Andrew Kemp all helping the bowler out; (Hinchcliffe’s catch being a beauty based on the fact he had to dive forward and just managed to keep the ball from bouncing).  A bowling change brought Jonno back on to bowl in tandem with his brother and he picked up his second wicket of the day.

Thistle had proved why they are competing at the top of the division having bowled another top team out this time for only 111 runs in 30 overs. One of the most pleasing things for the skipper was the fact all Thistle players fielded well and the effort from everyone was fantastic, this was also mentioned by the opposition at the end of the game who, by their own admission are still way behind. Thistle took tea on a high note knowing they have packed the side with batsmen at the loss of one of the quicker bowlers A Long.

Following tea the run chase began and conditions had changed, Cults bowlers getting the ball to swing and seam, far more than Thistle had done, however Thistle were looking strong from the second ball as Alex Keith drove the ball straight past the bowler for 4 runs, the second over of the match also went for 4 runs as Milroy turned the strike over to Keith who took another couple of runs. Milroy, not to be left out crashed the ball to the boundary in the 3rd over as Thistle raced to 14.

Cults bowlers had not read the same script as Stonehaven as Naru removed Keith’s off stump. This started the steady processions as none of Thistle’s batsman could stay around long enough to build a partnership and wickets fell at a steady rate. Milroy top scored with 12 and apart from 7 not out from A Wilson none of the batsmens score are worth mentioning as Thistle could only manage to scrape a disappointing 64 runs all out. Both Cults bowlers returning with figures of 5 wickets from only 9 overs each.

Thistle only take 12 points from the game and will have dropped 2 places to 3rd  as a result, with 7 games played. In order to move back up the table the team will have to bat better and learn that application is the key and at times when the wickets are falling, they need to form partnerships and stop going for the big shots that they have had the freedom to play so far this season.

The match ball was sponsored by the Marine Hotel, next week Thistle play in a 7 a side tournament at Duthie Park on Thursday (12 June) and travel to Banchory on Saturday looking to put this batting performance behind them.