‘Dads army’ battle hard in Paisley defeat

An EK 2s side featuring six players over 50 and most of the rest the wrong side of 40 travelled to Paisley to take on Ferguslie’s second string at Meikleriggs.

Skipper Mann lost his third toss out of three this season and predictably the home side opted to bat first on a glorious day with a wicket that looked perfect for batting.

The Meikleriggs openers batted well scoring freely without many alarms until Nick Ralphs came on to bowl a wonderful spell that alongside Iftikhar Khan brought back some sort of control for EK. Nick took two wickets and should easily have had another couple more but finished with 2-31 off his ten overs, easily the most economical of the bowlers. But the highlight from EK’s point of view was a truly wonderful full length diving catch by Glenn Taylor as Iftikhar tempted the home batter to hit one in the air. Sadly this one of the few high points as the home side took advantage of the conditions, batting very well and running hard between the wickets to post 330-5. The second consecutive week that EK conceded 300+ runs. Despite the score the ageing Torrance House side stuck to their task and fought hard. The fielding and bowling was a vast improvement on the week before.

It was never going to be an easy chase and the task was made even more difficult when steady opener Alan Meikle fell cheaply early on. Gregor Reid and Glenn Taylor made useful scores and occupied the crease for a decent length of time but wickets gradually fell and EK found themselves 120-8 and staring at a defeat of over 200 runs. Enter Usman Aftab who swung the bat freely and effectively knocking the ball to all parts of Meikleriggs. He finished on 52 not out of just 36 balls and help to bring a small modicum of respectability to the score line as EK reached 181 and almost reached the hallowed territory of batting the full 50 overs. Special mention as well to Richard Carton who scored 14 tough runs in his first innings for nearly three years.

Another tough day for the Torrance House side who do it again down at Ayr next Saturday.