Nail biting finish as Largo 1sts. battle to avoid relegation. Reporter - Nicky Rintoul

Having had the previous weekends match cancelled due to the weather Largo 1st XI cricketers were keen to get back into the fray making the short trip to Scroggie Park to play promotion chasing Falkland 2nd XI. Largo skipper Rintoul lost the toss and Largo were asked to bat first on another slow wicket so typical of this wet summer. Opening pair Rintoul and Warrender started cautiously facing tight bowling from R.Hepburn and Watson but having got a start Rintoul fell for 7 in the seventh over with 11 on the board. C. Baddeley dug in with Warrender and they inched the score along to 24 before Baddeley was stumped from the bowling of C.Hepburn for 4. A.Brown quickly followed with Largo looking in real trouble at 31 for 3 mid-way through their innings.The steadfast Warrender was then joined by in form Ian Brown who gave some impetus to the batting the pair taking the score to 79 in the 32nd. over before Brown was caught for a well-played 28. Warrender eventually fell for a battling 36 in the 35th over - caught Watson bowled R.Hepburn. Galloway(11) and Coates(16no) both chipped in nicely at the end of the innings taking the score to 120 for 8 from 40 overs. With 4 for 25 R.Hepburn was the pick of the Falkland bowlers.

Although 120 was a relatively low score it was one which given the wicket the bowlers had a chance of defending. Opening bowlers Matt Baddeley and A.Brown started well with a shocked Glen departing early for a "duck" thanks to a brilliant catch at mid-wicket by Nick Baddeley from his brothers bowling. With Meikle and Ferguson steadying the Falkland innings after the early loss skipper Rintoul brought Briony Gillin and Andrew Eglinton into the attack. This was an inspired change as the pair bowled a 16 over spell taking 3 wickets for a miserly 30 runs with Eglinton removing Stevie Meikle(19) and Ferguson(17) while Gillin dispatched R.Hepburn(8) thanks to another N.Baddeley catch. This set up a dramatic finish to the game.with Falkland on 64 for 4 after 25 overs and 57 required from 15 overs. With Rintoul and Chris Baddeley bowling Falkland pushed on to 102 for 6 after 35 overs with Baddeley and Rintoul each picking up a wicket Rintoul capturing the crucial wicket of C.Hepburn for 28. Only 19 required from 30 balls. Aidan Brown and Rintoul then bowled a tremendous final 5 over spell which saw Falkland finish 3 runs short on 118 for 9 having lost 3 wickets, one each to Rintoul and Brown plus a run out,as they desperately tried to get the winning runs:a "four" from Browns last ball would have seen Falkland over the line - they got 2 runs.

This was a tremendous battling performance by Largo with every player making a contribution to a hugely exciting and much needed win. On Saturday Largo are at home to SMRH 2. This weeks match ball sponsors were LCC Hong Kong Supporters Club.