It’s mid season break time for some clubs this weekend, and Grade 1 only has 2 games on Saturday. Mannofield head to Inverurie without skipper Indy Yahathugoda who is out of the country, but Rene Van Oorschot is on the team sheet along with Rahul Chandu and they would hope to make an impact on the result. 2nd Knight Riders are the host side at Groats Road as they play their 1st team and the latter have the chance to close the gap on 2nd place Bon Accord to one point if they can win.
Grade 2 only has one fixture as Portcullis take on Banchory at Duthie Park.
In Grade 3, 2nd Gordonians will be hoping to overtake their 3rd team in the table as they meet up at Links. Methlick will be looking to stay top of the table as Stonehaven go to Lairds, although the visitors will need a bit of bowling magic from veteran Nigel King if they are to push the hosts. Methlick 2nds will eat all the pies as they make the long journey to Crathie, boosted by the recent wicket taking ability of Liam and Charlie Davis. Stoneywood Dyce get their one and only opportunity to play a home match at People’s Park as Dunecht provide the opposition.
Don’t expect any surprises at the top of the SPCU North East Championship as Aberdeenshire should maintain their one point advantage over Meigle with 2nd Arbroath the visitors to Mannofield. Shire are without long term injury victim David Gamblen, but on paper this could be a one sided affair. Meigle will be favourites at home to Strathmore.
Huntly have done exceptionally well to hold on to 3rd place in the table, and with Safyaan Sharif on Scotland duty they go to Freuchie with a decent chance of a win. Gordonians are at Forthill to play 2nd Forfarshire. Gordos are without skipper Mayank Bhandari so 16 year old Adi Hegde steps in for the coin toss. Aman Arora remains on the injured list, and the Forfs performance will depend a lot on the contribution of Christian Robertson. Perth Doocot are at Forfar to take on Kinloch and the bottom 2 teams Stoneywood Dyce and Dundee High have the day off.
The Eastern Premier League enters week 11 of 18 and opportunities open up for unexpected results as the Scotland internationals are unavailable. The top of the table clash between Grange and Heriot’s could go a long way to deciding who tops the table at the end of the season, and Grange have the luxury of selecting former Scotland captain Preston Mommsen alongside Gordon Goudie in their line up. Arbroath are running out of time to preserve their EPL status and they need to get a result against visitors Carlton who are without Ali Evans. Stoneywood Dyce could do Arbroath a favour by winning at Falkland, but the Scroggie Park side will fancy their chances after Harsha Cooray was in the runs last week.
Forfarshire go to Stewarts Melville with a strong side other than the missing Michael Leask, and Watsonian host 3rd place RH Corstorphine who have been the surprise package this season.