In damp conditions after overnight rain, Largo 2nd XI travelled to Alloa on Sunday to face Clackmannanshire 2nd XI. Brent Bentley once again lost the toss for Largo and this meant his side were asked to bat first.

Wilkinson and Kamal Singh opened the batting for Largo and found scoring difficult from the start with excessive variable bounce and tight bowling meaning a low score was likely. After negotiating the first few overs Largo lost 4 quick wickets with Wilkinson (3), Singh (3), Sneddon (7) and Sandhu (0) all dismissed with just 21 on the board.

Miles joined Brown at the crease and set about batting out time and looking to pick up any runs on offer. The pair managed to push the score slowly along to 62 before Brown was bowled for a vital 26. With just 9 overs left, Largo looked to push on towards a competitive score and the arrival of Warrender with it brought a change in momentum as he began to found the boundaries that had gone missing so far. Along with Miles who top scored with 30*, Warrender’s 26 off 31 balls got Largo to 107/6 in their 40 overs and a score they felt they could look at defending in the conditions.

Largo in the reply got off to a flying start. Merrington after great fielding in the covers ran out Gordon Oliver for a duck before Innes Macdonald and Warrender both got a wicket off sharp rising deliveries reducing the home side to 5/3. Graham Oliver and Gutha though led a recovery with a 50 partnership which looked to be taking the game away from the Largo side before Bentley brought himself in to the attack and removed Oliver bowled for 24. Soon after Singh also found success as he dismissed Gutha thanks to a great catch by Sandhu before bowling Bryant-Nichols to leave the game in the balance at drinks on 73/6.

The home side moved with in 16 runs of victory before Largo again fought back with Miles producing a sharply spinning delivery to bowl Cooper for 22. Clackmannanshire then moved down to single figures to win before Sandhu would prove to be the game winner as his introduction brought about the final 3 wickets as, after a vital catch in the deep from Sneddon, he would bowl Bhardwaj for 1 and a 4 run win for the visitors.

After losing many tight games like this over the past few season Largo will be delighted to get over the line in this game with the fight shown with both bat and ball in this match showing once again why results have improved this season for the 2nd XI. They will look to keep the momentum from this game going as they play their penultimate match of the season next Sunday at home to Dundee High 3rd XI.