Carlton win Scotland's national league Premiership without taking the field
Champions for the first time!
Carlton are top of Scotland's domestic cricket tree for the first time after the inaugural Premiership title went to Grange Loan in the wake of results on another rain-affected Saturday of penultimate play-off matches.
Indeed, Carlton did not even need to take the field for the trophy to wing its way in their direction. Their home match against fourth-placed Aberdeenshire could not start because of the Edinburgh rains, while Forfarshire - the only other team still in the hunt - lost the game and second place to Arbroath United, leaving neither team able to overtake Carlton in Sunday's final round of play-off matches. Nevertheless, Arbroath took great delight in imposing only the second defeat of the season against the new champions on Sunday - possibly a reflection of the previous night's celebrations!
The derby game between Barclays Wealth Grange and Watsonians was another Edinburgh weather casualty on Saturday. But, somehow, Heriot's managed to play their match against Greaves Clydesdale, winning a minimalist 20-overs-a-side contest by just eight runs. Clydesdale were back in the capital on Sunday to play Grange - a match switched to Raeburn Place at Grange's insistence - but the game was abandoned at the tea interval.
In the third play-off group, Stoneywood-Dyce lost to Tunnock's Uddingston, allowing the latter's overall percentage to exceed that of Clydesdale at the foot of the group above, but remaining at the top of the third group in ninth place.
In the sun-blessed west of the country, all Premiership matches were completed. Dunfermline Knights travelled to Hamilton Crescent and defeated McCrae FS West by five wickets.
And in the relegation group, Local Life Ayr beat Drumpellier by eight wickets with a convincing batting display in which, unsurprisingly, Michael Papps was undefeated on 93*, but very well supported by Andi McElnea, who scored 91.
That left Greenock to try to extract home advantage against Stirling County and drag themselves off the foot of the table. But, chasing 166 for victory, the Glenpark side were all out seven runs short in the final over, still propping up the rest of the league and consigned to one of next year's lower leagues. Drumpellier also face the drop after losing to Greenock on Sunday by nine wickets - the Glenpark batting coming together too late as pro Luke Butterworth (81*) and Chris Bellwood (70*) hammered the visitors' bowling.
Champions for the first time!
In the Championship, only two matches were played on Saturday. Leaders West Lothian enjoyed a comfortable home win against third-placed challengers NVT Poloc, but principal title challengers APD Dumfries, who couldn't play their away game at Renfrew, were still able to snatch the Championship title on Sunday by defeating West Lothian by the convincing margin of seven wickets at Nunholm in the final round of games.
In the third play-off group, Falkland lost to Kelburne on Saturday, which took the lately-improved Whitehaugh side to ninth place at the top of the group - with a win percentage greater than that of their traditional Paisley rivals Ferguslie, who are in eighth place at the foot of the second play-off group. But Kelburne dropped back to finish in tenth place after losing to Freuchie by six wickets on Sunday. And Falkland rose into 11th place by beating RH Corstorphine on Sunday and swapping places with their defeated opponents.
Words: Mike Stanger Pictures: Donald MacLeod, Dumfries CC
