Stoneywood-Dyce concluded their away fixtures in Edinburgh by giving newly-crowned Eastern Premier League champions Heriots a run for their money.
The People’s Park side slid to a five-wicket defeat as the capital side overhauled the visitors’ total of 170 all out.
Captain Lennard Bester was, nevertheless, proud of the stubborn defiance offered by his side, claiming the difference between the two sides was the 74 stroked by his opposite number Hayes Van Der Berg.
The former Aberdeenshire player was in impressive form to frustrate his fellow South African.
Bester said: “Take him out of the game and there was nothing between us. Once again we bowled superbly.
“Taking five wickets of the runaway champions was impressive. I am proud of the guys.
“For their sake, I hope they end the campaign next week with a flourish at home to Carlton, another of the top teams in the Eastern Premier.
“We’ll then look to next season with a young team which is growing in confidence.”
Garreth Wolmarans was particularly effective for the visiting bowling attack against the normally free scoring home batsmen, conceding only 19 runs from his nine overs.
Unfortunately, when they batted, three of the Stoneywood-Dyce’s top order were back in the pavilion with only nine runs on the board but saved by composed knocks of 34 from Ewan Davidson and 29 from Wolmarans.
Andrew McLaren chipped in with 20 on a day when the People’s Park side took a small step towards the position their ambitious captain wishes for them which is to be challenging for top honours next season.
Wins for Huntly and Shire
Meigle took another step towards winning the NE Championship and a coveted place in the Eastern Premier after posting 300 for eight which was 175 too many for 2nd Arbroath United who were skittled out for 125.
Nearest challengers Huntly were doing a similar job on Stoneywood-Dyce at People’s Park, bowling out the home side for 101 and passing the lowly total for the loss of four wickets.
The standouts for the winners were Darren Morrison with three wickets for a paltry six runs and Jordan Squire with three for 15, while Sam Cuconits led the Castle Park side’s reply with a focused 50.
Aberdeenshire, who are also in the frame, were equally impressive at Forfar where they swept out Strathmore for 105 before cruising to a six-wicket victory.
Lewis Munro was outstanding for the Mannofield men, taking three for 23 and then following up with a classy 34 when he opened the batting.
Gordonians were 62 run winners at Countesswells where their 173 for nine, proved too much for Kinloch who could only muster 111 in reply.
The top performers for Gordonians were Adi Mehta who scored a splendid 63, while captain Mayank Bhandari led from the front capturing three wickets for only nine runs.
With only one week of the campaign remaining Huntly, Shire and Gordonians are likely to have to settle for the minor places, assuming Meigle get the better of bottom side Dundee High on Saturday.
The Grade 1 title race was blown wide open by Knight Riders who underlined just how difficult they are to beat at Groats Road.
Their five-wicket win over Bon Accord was enough to take over the leadership from the Bons whose 157 was never enough, especially when Sajid Muhammad (32) and captain Pehlaj Tenneti (30) wicket.
Crescent were also a worthy 76-run winners at Allan Park where their 255 proved too much of a target as the home side they slid to 176 all out.
With two weeks remaining in the season the situation could not be tighter with Knight Riders on 397 points, only three points ahead of Bon Accord and Crescent tied on 394.
Bon Accord and Crescent will also meet in the final of the Aberdeenshire Cup on Sunday in what promises to be a thrilling encounter and one of the best climaxes to the season in years.
This weekend’s results…
EASTERN PREMIER LEAGUE
Stoneywood Dyce 170 (4 points) (E Davidson 34, G Wolmarans 29, J Kinghorn-Gray 2-23, R Brown 2-26) Heriot’s 171 for 5 (25 points) (H Van Der Berg 74, C Martin 32)
Forfarshire 263 for 6 (25 points) (S Cameron 80no, J Sim 52, A Raza 2-60) Carlton 116 (0 points) (A Pillai 26, N Madziva 25, J O’Neill 5-19, B Allchin 2-14)
RH Corstorphine 268 for 4 (6 points) (L Naylor 116no, G West 69) Falkland 271 for 6 (25 points) (H Cooray 69, L Robertson 59no, B James 2-53, L Naylor 2-62)
Stewarts Melville 213 (8 points) (B Wilkinson 64, A Appleton 49, B Carnegie 5-41) Arbroath United 214 for 9 (25 points) (M Petrie 84, C Cameron 50, N Tandel 3-28, J Newman 3-33)
Grange 316 for 9 (points) (H Carnegie 89, B Davidson 46, T Pratt 4-60, S Ridge 3-47) Watsonian 314 for 9 (8 points) (M Carson 141, O Hairs 60, G Goudie 3-66, C Peet 2-35)
SPCU NORTH EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Strathmore 105 (4 points) (U Ahmed 21no, M Saraswat 4-17, L Munro 3-23) Aberdeenshire 106 for 4 (25 points) (L Munro 34, D Forrester 31no, S Ejaz 2-50)
Meigle 300 for 8 (25 points) (R Gayashan 110, Z Rasheed 69, J Burnett 4-34, A Stott 2-35) 2nd Arbroath United 125 (7 points) (G Peal 38, D Sinclair 29, S Saeed 4-16, M Scott 2-26)
Gordonians 173 for 9 (25 points) (A Mehta 63no, A Vitthala 27, H Hussain 4-29, T Niazi 3-39) Kinloch 111 (7 points) (T Niazi 43, M Bhandari 4-9, P Wig 3-40)
2nd Stoneywood Dyce 101 (3 points) (S Coetzer 24, D Morrison 3-6, J Squire 3-15) Huntly 102 for 2 (25 points) (S Cuconits 50no, C Whyte 36no, J Grant 2-29)
Perth Doocot 202 for 8 (8 points) (U Saeed 75, M Hussain 72, R Wiseman 4-32, S Sharif 3-25) Freuchie 203 for 3 (25 points) (S Sharif 59, D Stonebridge 44)
Dundee HSFP 148 (5 points) 2nd Forfarshire 151 for 3 (25 points)
NORTH EAST SCOTLAND CRICKET GRADES
GRADE 1
AGSFPs 200 for 7 (12 points) (A Keith 73, M Nattrass 42, M Khosla 3-24) Gordonians 201 for 2 (30 points) (M Khosla 94, A Bashir 57no)
Mannofield 290 for 6 (30 points) (R Chandu 98, R Hashmi 58, B Balaji 2-54, STogarrati 2-58) 2nd Knight Riders 128 (12 points) (A Hastie 4-30, A Cummings 3-27)
B-Secure Crescent 255 for 8 (30 points) (R Sujaya 92, A Toor 24no, J Khan 4-45, A Shehman 2-57) Infquick.com Cults 176 (18 points) (N Noor 37no, R Mahajan 35, S Tahseen 2-2, A Pewekar 2-12)
Culter Curry Bon Accord 157 (13 points) (F Awan 37, U Khan 34, S Nagulmeera 4-27, V Vijapur 2-23) Knight Riders 158 for 5 (30 points) (S Muhammad 32, P Tenneti 30, F Awan 2-20)
Inverurie Don Valley 256 for 3 (17 points) (C Watson 80, G Hadden 70) TechForce Master Blasters Aberdeen 257 for 7 (30 points) (J Gajjar 68no, R Mantha 54, K Godbole 2-48, G Hadden 2-53)
GRADE 2
Portcullis 82 (7 points) (A Rennie 3-9, C McLeman 2-24) Fraserburgh 86 for 4 (30 points) (C Gospel 32, C Bowie 31no, A Blackburn 2-19)
Quilter Cheviot Ellon Gordon 138 (11 points) (R Greenfield 35) Banchory 139 for 4 (30 points) (S Rotheram 48, W George 38, J Barratt 2-26)
Siyapa 230 for 9 (18 points) (A Ali 45, H Masood 42, M Nadim 2-30, J George 2-47) 2nd Grampian 232 for 8 (30 points) (S Rathnayake 77no, M Nadim 57, M Kashif 3-51, N Ul-Hassnan 2-43)
GRADE 3
2nd Siyapa (30 points) walkover Crathie (0 points)
2nd Gordonians 304 for 3 (30 points) (S Gollakota 147no, A Hounsome 45) 3rd Gordonians 175 for 8 (13 points) (R Kirodian 50, M Patel 39, P Gollakota 4-13, S Vengadasamy 2-26)
Huntly 215 for 7 (30 points) (L Myron-Petrie 44no, A Dawar 30, G Fowlie 3-32, L Crutchfield 3-49) 2nd Methlick 77 (10 points) (G Reid 4-15, E Henderson 3-25)
Stoneywood Dyce 127 (11 points) (A Madigan 34, A Sanderson 3-14, B Snelling 3-17) Stonehaven Thistle 128 for 5 (30 points) (A Gale 73no, F Jack 3-25, B Davidson 2-26)