Big win sees Saints go marching on in the cup

FORRES St Lawrence eased into the next round of the cup after an emphatic victory over Keith on Sunday at Fife Park. After Northern Counties could not raise a team the day before in the league, the Saints turned their attention to cup action.

Missing some key players, Forres travelled hoping they had enough fire power to overcome Keith on their own ground. Winning the toss, Forres asked Keith to bat first. Just second ball in Gus Farr struck when Graham Carney gently flicked a half volley to Pritpal Dhami at mid wicket . Then next over he struck again as the ball came off Dey’s bat, pad and rolled onto the wicket. Despite these set back’s Keith were scoring runs as they found the boundary regularly. John Duff shared opening bowling duties and he too found the breakthrough when Jonathan McWilliam heaved across the line and was bowled for 9, leaving the home side 3 for 35 off just 6 overs. Changing the bowlers round, skipper Nigel Gerrard took Farr off and introduced Derek Ross who bowled a steady line and length, keeping a lid on the scoring and adding to the pressure. Keith opener Kenny McWilliam was joined by Mark Webster, a fruitful partnership for the home side. They added 47 runs in 9 overs, including 10 off Tony Farr’s first, before Webster was trapped LBW to Farr for 17. It then became a procession with first a run out then a neat catch from debutant Calvin Charles giving Farr his second wicket that over. This all proved too much for McWilliam who knew he needed to score runs and chased at a wide delivery giving Duff a catch and Farr his third wicket. McWilliam fell for a lively 34 out of his teams score of 85. The two last wickets for 10 man Keith were snapped up by Farr leaving him with the unlikely figures of 5 for 14 off 5 overs and Keith totalled 88. Special mention for 12 year old Tommy McGrath fielded well on his first team debut.

The Forres reply opened with Dhami and Charles. Dhami was in tremendous form with the bat, taking three fours off the first over, he struck the ball cleanly along the ground. Charles joined in too but he fell trying to flick a leg side delivery round the corner. Gus Farr came in at three but played second fiddle to Dhami who simply wanted runs. The total was passed in the 13th over when Farr hit over cover for four, sealing the victory for Forres. Dhami finished with a delightful 53 not out, Farr 23 not out.

Next week the Saints make the long journey to Fort William in a return to league action.