Jamie King has stepped down as Stoneywood-Dyce captain following their defeat by Arbroath United.
It was the club’s fifth consecutive defeat of the season and handed Arbroath their first victory of the campaign.
King’s shock announcement means the People’s Park side must find a new leader for the remaining six weeks of their season, although King will turn out for the next three games before he calls time on August 10.
He said: “I feel this is an appropriate time to give up the captaincy, giving the new captain time to settle in before the end of the season.
“I would have liked to have bowed out with a win, but disappointingly it was not to be.
“We were batted and bowled off the park by Willem Lubbe who was on a different planet, scoring a magnificent unbeaten 127 while chasing down our reasonable total of 244 for nine.
“In the end we were overwhelmed by one man who also took six wickets for 34 runs.”
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Stoneywood-Dyce lost opener Du Preez Stander with the score on nine but put themselves in a strong position after a partnership of 87 between Nathan Elliott (37) and the reliable Garreth Wolmarans (84).
Elliott, who is rapidly growing into a batsman of considerable stature, hit three sixes in his confident knock was overshadowed by South African Wolmarans.
His score of 84 was all the more remarkable given less than 24 hours earlier he had been assaulted and robbed when on a day visit to watch the golf at St Andrews, resulting in him only getting back to Aberdeen at 3am in the morning.
Despite having badly bruised ribs, Wolmarans was in outstanding form; his only shot in the air being superbly caught in the deep by Lubbe.
The latter half of the home innings was saved by a stand of 50 between Ewan Davidson (31) and Fraser McLean (25) and then a late flurry from David Kidd (15).
The Arbroath response was almost exclusively from Lubbe, although his century was well supported by his captain Marc Petrie’s 53, as the visitors eased to a five wicket win in the 37th over.
Wolmarans said: “It was a hugely disappointing day for us, but despite the situation we will not be relegated. For that to happen Arbroath would have to win their remaining six games.
“A game at Grange next week will need more focus.”
Elsewhere, Heriots continued their march to the title but were pushed all the way by Watsonians in a one wicket win, as the Goldenacre chased down 192 in the 46th over.
Shire storm to victory
In the NE Championship, the race intestified after leaders Aberdeenshire swept to a 10-wicket victory at Freuchie, bowling the home side out for 56.
Lewis Munro took five for 26, while Dian Forrester took three for 17 before the Mannofield side knocked off the 57 runs required.
Kenny Reid, the Shire captain, was not getting carried away with the impressive win, but said: “It was a great team performance in which we kept our focus.”
Second-placed Meigle were not in action but remain Shire’s closest challengers in the battle for the one promotion slot on offer.
Huntly kept themselves in the hunt with a convincing nine wicket win at the expense of Dundee High who were bowled out for 141 before the Castle Park side cruised to victory, led by captain Jack Mitchell (49) but well supported by Nicholas Cuconits (37) and his brother Samuel (40).
“We are still in contention for promotion but face our biggest challenge when we take on Shire at Mannofield in two weeks time,” said Mitchell.
In the same league, 2nd Stoneywood-Dyce had a rare win on the road at Arbroath where Shaun Coetzer rolled back the years with a polished 59, as his side successfully held off the challenge of 2nd Arbroath United by three runs.
In the Aberdeenshire Grades, Crescent kept themselves on track for a first ever Grade 1 title after easing to a seven wicket win at home to Inverurie, while chasers Bon Accord and Knight Riders also recorded wins to keep the pressure on.
This weekend’s results…
EASTERN PREMIER LEAGUE
Stoneywood Dyce 244 for 9 (4 points) (G Wolmarans 84, N Elliott 37, W Lubbe 6-34) Arbroath United 249 for 5 (25 points) (W Lubbe 127no, M Petrie 53, J King 3-38, J Grant 2-58)
Watsonian 192 (8 points) (M Carson 60, L Hillis 33, J Kinghorn-Gray 5-28, R Martin 2-28) Heriot’s 194 for 9 (25 points) (D Mackay-Champion 46, C Martin 33, T Pratt 4-38, L Hillis 2-61)
Forfarshire 179 (25 points) Falkland 151 (6 points)
Carlton 279 for 6 (25 points) (A Pillai 77, F Burnett 60, J Jarvis 3-50) Grange 161 (0 points) (C Peet 46no, G Goudie 32, U Mohammad 3-22, N Madziva 2-21)
Stewarts Melville 248 for 9 (25 points) (S Pillay 62, S Parker 50, G West 2-29, B James 2-37) RH Corstorphine 232 (8 points) (B James 106, L Naylor 22, C Shorten 5-32, N Tandel 2-28)
SPCU NORTH EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Freuchie 56 (0 points) (C Glasgow 22no, L Munro 5-26, D Forrester 3-17) Aberdeenshire 57 for 0 (25 points) (K Reid 29no, A Das 21no)
Stoneywood Dyce 206 for 7 (25 points) (S Coetzer 59, M Louw 47, J Burnett 2-24) 2nd Arbroath United 203 for 8 (10 points) (D Sinclair 83no, M Tattersall 28, M Louw 2-37, R Williams 2-39)
2nd Forfarshire 136 (5 points) (L Garden 44, R Bowman 3-18, T Niazi 2-16) Kinloch 137 for 3 (25 points) (S Shafi 40no, M Ali 38no, C McConnachie 2-35)
Strathmore 246 for 5 (25 points) (S Ejaz 108, G Hewitson 41, I Patterson 2-38) Perth Doocot 193 (8 points) (B Ali 46, U Saeed 25, C Milne 3-42, L Sweeney 2-23)
NORTH EAST SCOTLAND CRICKET GRADES
GRADE 1
Gordonians 294 for 5 (30 points) (A Hegde 100, M Khosla 62, B Vijayaraj Jayakumari 2-46) 2nd Knight Riders 204 (15 points) (U Raghavendra 73, S Arumugam Vijandiran 41, R Chouksey 2-33, S Singh 2-43)
Mannofield 153 (15 points) (S Rajapaksha 55, R Hashmi 46, C Aggarwal 3-25, A Narne 3-50) TechForce Master Blasters Aberdeen 154 for 7 (30 points) (A Narne 40, J Gajjar 24, P Wood 2-21, A Saraswat 2-37)
Knight Riders 297 for 1 (30 points) (M Mohan 124no, A Kache 91) AGSFPs 75 (4 points) (A Haider 20, M Challa 5-11, S Nagulmeera 2-14)
Culter Curry Bon Accord 197 (30 points) (F Awan 66, H Ahmed 36, M Tahir 5-18, A Ali 3-33) Infquick.com Cults 168 for 8 (19 points) (A Ajazi 56no, T Malik 4-16, F Awan 2-38)
Inverurie Don Valley 221 for 4 (13 points) (C Watson 77, G Hadden 66, R Ahmed 2-48) B-Secure Crescent 226 for 3 (30 points) (A Pewekar 104no, A Mundathparambi 56)
GRADE 2
Grampian 317 for 7 (30 points) (M Nadim 110, J George 50, U Shirzad 2-36, R Duthie 2-63) Fraserburgh 67 (9 points) (J Raju 4-21, M Rahman 2-11)
Banchory 166 for 7 (18 points) (C Counsell 61, N Scott 25) Siyapa 169 for 9 (30 points) (M Ghafoor 44, N Ahmad 27)
Quilter Cheviot Ellon Gordon 214 (30 points) Portcullis 149 (18 points)
GRADE 3
Huntly (30 points) walkover Dunecht (0 points)
3rd Gordonians 150 (30 points) (V Hegde 44, N Maheshwari 41) 2nd Methlick 99 (14 points) (G Fraser 27, G Singh 5-29, A Subramanian 2-8)
2nd Gordonians 334 for 7 (30 points) (T Kirodian 74, S Chouksey 66, A Kossman 2-60) Stonehaven Thistle 300 for 7 (17 points) (A Gale 106, M Macaulay-Dicks 101, P Gollakota 3-56, S Chouksey 2-61)