By Graeme Anderson

On Saturday, Clackmannan Counties first eleven travelled to Edinburgh, to take on Watsonians third eleven. Captain Graeme Anderson won the toss, decided to field, and try to take advantage of the damp wicket.
The first ball of the game from Matthew Booth was a wide, the second was similar, however the opening batsmen Steve Lockhart, chased after the ball and scooped it straight to Anderson at cover. Since Lockhart has been the 5th top run scorer in the league this year a fortunate dismissal.  Both openers Booth and Craig Black, began bowling well, but were unable to get another breakthrough until the tenth over, when Black bowled the remaining opener, and trapped the number four batsmen LBW, in a double wicket maiden.
The score at that point was 33 for 3, with most of the runs coming behind square. With the short boundaries, any ball that went past the infield usually went to the boundary. Watsonians took advantage of this and the number three and five batsmen put together a partnership of 44, until Will Kay managed to remove both of these batsmen. The young number three batsmen, who had played well, was brilliantly caught at first slip by Graham Oliver.
Anderson was then introduced to the attack, and he and Black managed to clean up the tail. Watsonians had amassed 171 in 45 overs. Black finishing with 9 over’s, 2 maidens, 4 wickets for 30 runs, and Anderson 7 Over’s, 2 maidens, 3 wickets for 24 runs.
After the interval, Clackmannan’s openers, Gordon Oliver and Dan Smith headed out to bat. The wicket despite the sunshine and strong wind had not improved since the start of the game, and the Counties batsmen knew that they would have to work hard for every run.
The Watsonians opening bowlers were not giving anything away, and after 7 over’s Clackmannan had only 9 runs on the board when Smith was caught behind. Black then joined Oliver at the crease and the two soon accelerated the score, punishing any bad ball. There were some big sixes and fours hit, and things were looking comfortable until Black was bowled on 34, with the score at 80.
Anderson joined Oliver at the crease and they moved the score to 111, before Oliver was also bowled for 45. Ash Rasul quickly followed, which brought Ross Murray to the crease. Murray’s first ball was drilled back down the ground for 4 and his second was hit over long on for 6. It began to look as if Clackmannan were back on target.
However, as always seems to be the case, suddenly there was a mix up in the running between the wickets and Anderson was run out. Paul Hooper, and the Ross Murray followed soon after and Clackmannan were reeling, at 148 for 7 in the 38th over.
With 24 runs needed and only 3 wickets in hand, it was up to Graham Oliver and Richard Passe to steer the team home. Fortunately there were plenty of over’s left, and they were able to be patient and pick off the bad balls. The score had progressed to 167, when Passe was brilliantly caught at short cover having made 7.
Booth then joined young Oliver, and they were able to steer the team to a hard fought victory.
This was a terrific win for the team.  In situations similar to this last season, the team always ended up losing out, so it is encouraging to see the team achieve victory in these tight situations. Next week the first eleven travels to Preston Village, for the top of the table clash, knowing that only a win will do if they are to win promotion.