FORRES TOOK the upper hand in the dress rehearsal of the NOSCA cup final on Saturday as they defeated Inverness side, Highland, in a tight league match at Grant Park.

Winning the toss, the Forres skipper asked Highland to bat first and they opened with Graham Watson and Jonathan Crabtree.

Derek Ross and Fraser Merricks took the new ball for the home side and made a superb job of keeping a lid on the visitors' scoring.

Clearly a batsman with some ability, Watson was kept to singles as he and Crabtree were limited to 31 off the first ten overs as Ross and Merricks stuck to their task. A change of bowlers took the pace off the ball as Tony Farr and David Durance were introduced and, in only his second over, Durance struck the decisive blow for Forres.

He first induced Watson to clip the ball to mid wicket, where Gus Farr took a good catch low round his ankles and secondly a swinging ball saw Crabtree swipe and miss as the ball, go on to flatten the middle stump.

Watson made 25 and Crabtree 20, and with only one more dangerous batsman to come, Tony Farr did the business when a slower ball saw new batsman Rob Nixon present Farr with a simple caught and bowled.

Stuart Catto and Regan Francis needed to move the score along from 50 for 3 but Francis was soon on his way back to the pavilion when he pushed at a Durance delivery and watched as McGrath dived close to pouch the ball. Another six runs were added before Durance struck for a fourth time as Catto left the ball, which swung in and rattled the timbers.

Adam Park Elliott and John Paul were the new partnership and, while the former played carefully, the latter struck out and took two sixes off Farr, but the bowler had the last laugh as he heaved the ball to cow corner and the waiting hands of Gus Farr, who juggled the ball before safely taking the catch. Paul made 22 and moved the score along to 87.

R. Giridhar joined Park Elliott but only another four runs were added before Giridhar was removed by the Farr partnership, this time father Tony reciprocating off the bowling of Gus.

New batsman R. Seshu stuck around with Park Elliott, and this pair moved Highland past the hundred mark, enjoying a 31 run partnership before Ian Roberts was introduced to the attack and bowled Seshu for 12 and next over tempting Park Elliott to hit out, but found Derek Ross at deep square leg, a valuable 19 runs for the batsman.

This left Rob Outram and Andy Graham to see the overs out with Highland finishing on 130 for 9. David Durance finished with 4 for 28 off his 11 overs.

The tried and tested bowling partnership of Nixon and Crabtree took the ball against Nigel Gerrard and Fraser Merricks, and some tight bowling brought about the first wicket to fall, that of Merricks, who played round a straight delivery and was bowled by Nixon for two.

Gus Farr came in at three and looked comfortable but lack of foot movement prompted a faint edge through to the keeper and Farr was on his way back for only six, Forres 19 for 2.

Neil McGrath now partnered Gerrard and their experience saw off the opening bowlers. The change bowlers, Catto and Paul, held few demons and although scoring was not easy, 39 off 20 overs, it allowed the batsmen to get in and make the platform to win the match.

A straight six for McGrath off Paul followed by two lofted cover drive fours settled McGrath. Nixon was reintroduced into the attack on 73 for 2 and struck immediately as he got a lifting ball to follow McGrath's gloves and the ball went through to the keeper, out for 41.

Al Farr could have closed the game down but when going for a big heave he got the ball too high on the bat and it presented a simple catch for Park Elliott at mid on off Nixon.

New batsman Derek Ross has shown over the season that he is capable of batting well under pressure and this was another occasion when he stuck around with his skipper, building a 30 run partnership before he was bowled by Nixon when going for a big shot having scored 14. 113 for 5 in the 40th over and still some work to be done.

Gerrard was joined by Durance and he showed immediately that he was up for the fight when he struck Nixon square through mid wicket for four. Now Gerrard was playing an expansive game, and between them this pair took Forres over the winning line in the 42nd over, Gerrard finishing with 41 not out and Durance 12. Rob Nixon claimed four for 35 off his 12 overs. A good win for Forres ahead of the cup final against Highland on Sunday which will take place at the Nairn Links with a 1pm start.