It’s Super Saturday for Stoneywood Dyce in the EPL, and Gordonians in the SPCU North East Championship, with the former having a chance to get away from the bottom spot in the EPL, and the latter having the opportunity to knock Freuchie off the top of the SPCU table.
Grade 1 sees reruns of the Aberdeenshire Cup quarter finals from this past Sunday as AGSFPs host Grampian at Rubislaw and Bon Accord play Crescent at Links on the grass. Grammar welcome back skipper Rob Swiergon although they did rather well without him last weekend beating Grampian at a canter in the cup by 185 runs. Expect a stronger batting performance from Grampian. Crescent surprised Bons in the cup with a narrow 2 run win but Bons will be favourites to come out on top this time, but perhaps less so on Sunday as they have to travel to Leith for a rerun of their rain affected Challenge Cup tie. Rain may well be the winner again as the forecast for Edinburgh is not great and Bons may be well advised to practice for a bowl off! Gordonians go with a mix of youth and experience as they take on Cults on the artificial pitch at Countesswells with a much changed line up. Cults will be hoping to get back on track after back to back defeats. Playing at Sheddocksley is always a culture shock to Inverurie who are used to the even bounce of Kellands Park, but they should have the personnel at their disposal to win against Siyapa. Knight Riders came close to beating Bons last Saturday and would expect to have the edge over Master Blasters, but the latter may benefit from the familiarity of playing at Allan Park so all bets are off on this result.
In Grade 2, leaders Mannofield are the team without a game this weekend and this gives the chasing pack a chance to improve their percentages as the top 3 take on the bottom 3. Ellon host 2nd AGSFPs at Gordon Park hoping the outfield will have been trimmed to allow value for shots. Fraserburgh had a 9 wicket win the last time they played on an artificial pitch so will be fishing for a similar result as they go to Groats Road to play 2nd Knight Riders. Portcullis have shown remarkable consistency and would hope for another good performance as they take on Methlick at Duthie Park.
In Grade 3, league leaders 2nd Grampian would have expected a big win at Lairds against 2nd Methlick, but wholesale unavailability has unfortunately forced the hosts to scratch. 2nd Gordonians go to Banchory minus the Hounsome pair and other regulars who are isolating due to school related Covid transmissions. Huntly are at Stonehaven, probably in search of losing bonus points, but the Stonehaven top 9 batsmen were not at their best last weekend and their successful tail may move up the batting order slightly. Balmoral is the venue as Dunecht play Crathie. Crathie will be marginal favourites but Dunecht have had their moments and will be hoping to pull off a right royal surprise.
As mentioned earlier, Stoneywood Dyce are on the road to Edinburgh again for a crucial EPL match against Stewarts Melville. The losing team is likely to prop up the league. Stew Mel have suffered 2 heavy defeats in the league but have otherwise been quite consistent. SDCC have bowled very well in spells but have missed the runs from the likes of Jack Mitchell and Liam Lindsay in 2019. Meigle are another team who have struggled with the bat and the odds are that they will be in the bottom 2 as they travel more in hope than expectation to on form Carlton. Watsonians host Heriots in a top of the table tie and Forfarshire will be looking to bounce back from a rare defeat as they travel to RH Corstorphine. Grange will be expected to be too good for their hosts Arbroath.
In the SPCU, the biggest game of the day will be at Countesswells as Gordonians host Freuchie. Freuchie are unbeaten so far in the league but have had a couple of very close encounters and haven’t dominated games. For the hosts Chamila Perera is included as they miss the spin option of Pranav Saravanan. Aberdeenshire play Arbroath 2nds at Mannofield and Shay Nanthakumaran will add solidity to the batting line up that had an off day at Perth last weekend. They will also be hoping Kenny Reid can replicate the century he made in a midweek T20 against Grammar. Perth Doocot make only one change to the team that beat Shire last weekend as they make the long drive to Huntly. Whilst Perth have bowled well this season, their batting has looked fragile and expect a close game if Huntly can bowl well. The match between the Stonewood Dyce 2nd team and Dundee High has been cancelled due to Covid isolation affecting availability for SDCC. In the other 2 SPCU games, expect Falkland to overpower Kinloch at Forfar and Strathmore to come out on top in a slightly closer game at Forthill against Forfarshire 2nds.