‘Rising damp’ in league campaign

Aug 29 2008 by Our Correspondent, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

IT was a damp ending to Shire's Premier League campaign with last Saturday's scheduled league match against Meigle actually being called off on the Friday night, such was the wet condition of the North Inch.

Despite a decent start to Saturday, the pitch was still partly waterlogged at 11am on match morning and so the decision was the right one.

Results elsewhere meant Shire maintained their fifthplace from 2007, a reasonable achievement given their troubled winter.

Captain Graham Ferguson reflected on a very difficult year: "Over the Winter, we faced the loss of three of our most promising young players after losing five the season before, continued problems with playing facilities and the absence of any Net facilities and things were looking very bleak.

“We went as far as calling an emergency meeting in January which, had it not resulted in the players realising the difficulties and showing loyalty, could very well have seen the club go into abeyance.

“We were grateful to the Gannochy Trust and Doo’cot clubs for offering us temporary net facilities and this was the first of a number of plus points for us.

“The players responded excellently to my hopes for increased availability and our position as one of only two clubs without a professional, we were able to blood seven or eight juniors in our 2nd XI, our Kwik Cricket and Junior Hardball sides continued to make progress and the season went as well as could be expected.

“There were challenges along the way but we have ended on a high note with some very positive signs around the North Inch facilities that we hope will bring about activity during the winter and allow us to move into 2009 with confidence. I'd like to thank all the players, coaches, juniors and parents for their support this season".

The cricket is not yet finished though. The 2nd XI had 6 matches after the end of the 1st XI season and they won the first of those on Sunday when they defeated Strathmore XI by four wickets. All the bowlers performed well as the home team were dismissed for 149.

Shire always had the target well in their sights and won comfortably with 9 balls to spare with Jamie Macintosh top-scoring with 41 not out.

This weekend, the 2nd XI have two fixtures, with Breadalbane visiting the Inch on Saturday and Shire making the short trip on Sunday to play Strathearn at Doocot Park. The teams will be a mix of youth and experience and the squads are:

2nd XI v Breadalbane at N Inch Sat 30/8/08 - From G Ferguson, S Rajyaguru, P Chavan, T Calderbank, C Bayne, C Ruthven, J Yellowlees, R Yellowlees, D Peddie, D Marmik, M McDonald, R Crouch, D Armstrong. R McPhee (Scorer) Players meet 11.30 prompt at Gannochy Pavilion.

2nd XI v Strathearn at Doo’cot Park, Sun 31/8/08 - From G Ferguson, D Armstrong, J MacIntosh, D Peddie, S Rajyaguru, P Chavan, R Thomson, P Patel, D Marmik, G Haddow, F McGaffney, C Ruthven, J Yellowlees. R McPhee (Scorer) Players meet 12.30 prompt at Doo’cot Park