Largo 1st XI lose in vital local Derby in Falkland as impressive Barclay's spell not enough to keep Largo out of relegation places.
4 wickets from Barclay along side an all-round display of 41 plus 3 wickets for Cusick aren't enough to keep Largo from 90 run loss.
Largo’s 1st XI made the short trip to Scroggie Park in Falkland on Saturday to play their 2nd XI in a vital clash at the bottom of the SPCU Div 1 table as 8th played 9th in the league. Largo knew victory could put then in a strong position to avoid relegation this season where a win for the home side would likely take them above Largo and in to a position to stay up also with this the penultimate match of the season for both teams. Ben Coates was captain on the day for Largo and after winning the toss decided to bowl first in the rather un-summary conditions.
Largo opened the bowling with Rowley and Cusick but were unable to make the breakthroughs initially hoped for as Campbell and Trewartha moved along steadily at 5 an over until Cusick on 37 managed to manufacture a false shot from Trewartha to remove him caught by MacDonald for 16. Cusick wasn’t done though as he then in the next couple overs removed Watson and Langlands thanks to catches from Warrender and Michie to reduce the home side to 52/3.
Falkland however would recover with C Hepburn joining Campbell to put on a 97 run stand in quick time, finding the boundaries with ease and punishing any wayward bowling from the Largo side. Eventually Campbell wouldn’t be able to repeat his feat of scoring a hundred against Largo as he did earlier in the year for the 40 club as he became the first of 4 wickets for Chris Barclay as he was caught well by Das on the legside boundary for 64. Barclay would go on to take the next 3 wickets to finish with impressive figures of 4/34 including the wicket of C.Hepburn for 56 to leave the home side 182/7. Ryan Hepburn though as he did in the 2nd XI fixture earlier in the season would show his big hitting potential with the bat and score an unbeaten 69 to push the Falkland side to an imposing 252/7 in their 45 overs.
In reply Largo opened with their usual pair of Cusick and Das and got off to a bright start until Das was dismissed for 17, which was then followed soon after by the wickets of Warrender, Rowley and Coates to leave Largo in trouble at 53/4. Brown joined Cusick and like last week looked in good form with the bat as the pair moved the score towards 100 and in search of bonus points if not the victory to stay ahead of the home side in the table.
The wicket of Cusick for a top score of 41 sparked another min collapse for Largo however as Udayan and Graham followed to leave any hope of victory for the Largo side gone at 103/7. Largo would dig in with MacDonald, Michie and Barclay all contributing with Brown unmoved on 35* as Largo looked to get as many runs as possible but ended up all out for 160, a batting bonus point short of matching the home sides overall score for the season. This meant a loss by 92 runs and a move in to the relegation places with 1 game to go in the season.
On what was obviously a big day for both sides in the context of the season Largo will be disappointed to come on the wrong side of the result however all is not lost heading in to the final weekend of the year. With Falkland playing promotion chasing Kinloch in the final game of the season Largo face 7th placed Rossie Priory in their final fixture at home in the knowledge that a comprehensive win and results going their way could still see them clear of trouble.