18s finish in style against a depleted glasgow accies side - but on a beautifully bright and warm september evening - the 'locster under 18s signed off their, and the club's, 2007 season with a convincing win. the result secured the 18s' third place in the league, the club's best finish at under 18 level for many, many years. thanks are due to garry hampson in particular for his coaching and development of this group of guys, all bar two of whom can play at 18s level again next year. and pleasingly it was the two non-starters for next season - nomy and the huss' - who chased down the 46 to win inside five overs. the visitors' 45 for 8 in their fifteen overs was a total restricted by tight bowling and decent fielding. well bowled guys. saturday's wayward deliveries against ferguslie were replaced by good line and length. bily was his usual economic self, leaking just 4 runs in his three overs. nicky grabbed four wickets as he bamboozled the middle order and tail, whilst hari' grabbed his 50th wicket in all cricket this year when he dismissed bonnington, the catch taken by bily . around the bowlers, the fielding was decent too, as noted. aamir and the huss' notched up run outs - aamir's a direct hit from cover point to get rid of shields. so good was the fielding there were even diving stops to be seen - well done mr bedi for setting the example. 45 for 8 was the scoreboard reading after "time" was called on the accies' innings and it was then over to nomy and hassan to chase down the runs needed for the win. this they did in style; nomy in particular needing no excuse to get after the somewhat tame bowling. he hit the winning 4 through mid-wicket to finish on 35 not out from just twenty balls. so accies beaten and third place secured - well done guys: a good season with entertaining cricket played and real potential identified. 18s dig themselves out of a hole the 'locster 18s can still finish third in the league after seeing off ferguslie at shawholm on saturday. in the "warm-up" to the rowan cup final, a healthy crowd saw the 'loc chase down 128 to win inside sixteen overs as the ball was smashed to all parts by the batters after poor bowling had allowed the visitors to rack up what they must've felt was a match-winning score. the day had started in typically shambolic fashion however as anscar was "a.w.o.l." and saad salim was - as ever - ready to step into the breach. thanks to the cricket champ' . mr reliable. and he'd show the worth of his selection by fielding really well and taking a sharp catch at square leg to dismiss greg cameron. this was in the first innings after the feegie won the toss and decided to bat first. and a good start they had: 41 for 1 off five overs was ominously good in fact! the only wicket that had gone down had seen nj getting rid of sean docherty "c&b". bily had taken a bit of stick tho' and had gone for 17 in his first two, prompting nomy to pull him out of the attack and try zaeem instead. but the runs kept coming; z's first over going for 12. but, crucially, wickets then started falling. the second went down in the sixth over, the third in the ninth and it was six down by over fourteen. yup, all action: runs and wickets. and it was getting into the tail early that probably prevented ferguslie posting a huge score. 95 for 4 after thirteen overs looked like it could end up 140+, but, as it was, only 32 was added in the last seven overs as hari', in particular, caused havoc. his five-over spell saw him return figures of 5- 0-20-5 to drag the 'loc back into things and give'em any chance of winning it. so 127 for 9 posted. chasing down 128 in twenty calls for some batting strategy - nomy and the coach decided on a simple one: send in the bunters and keep your fingers crossed. throw in a left-right opening combo' and, again, hope this unsettles the bowlers. and, guess what, it worked! zaeem and dani' strode out and, after a steady start, started bunting . balls flew to all parts, at all angles, off dani's bat, whilst zaeem upset the bowlers' line bringing wides and no balls as he made 16. zaeem's departure with the score on 85 brought hari' in and he carried on where he'd left off with the ball in his hand by hitting 26 off just 16 balls to see the guys home, with dani' unbeaten at the other end on 76. well batted young man. remarkably victory had been achieved in just 15.4 overs with the strategy having succeeded. so third place very much still on with monday's home match versus glasgow accies the last cricket fixture of a long season. well done to the guys today, with special mention to dani' for his good knock and to hari' for his m.o.t.m. "5-for" to drag the boys back into it, and his 26*. a great way to finish! after stunning previously unbeaten prestwick in their last outing, the 'locster under 11s travelled to toytown knowing that a win would give'em a share of the championship. and win they did.....in style! the margin of victory was 68 runs and it was fitting that skipper saad was there at the end; his unbeaten 34 had seen the win nailed down. well played the cricket champ ! the 'dale had batted first and made a net 237. in reply the 'loc made net 305. but back to the dark side's "go". awan top-scored in the last pairing with a smash-and-grab 14 that - for a while - threatened to be much more! but a great last over from hasan ahmad restricted the big man . hasan bowled well on the night and ended up with 2 for 12 in his four overs, being one of only a few 'locster bowlers who managed not to bowl legside wides at regular intervals. what was going on guys?!? saad also ended up with decent-looking figures (4-1-18-3), but 8 of the runs conceded were wides from him too. other pleasing aspects of the 'loc fielding were the catches held onto by hasan, haider akram and fahed malik. and the two run outs: well done wasay saeed and saad. in reply the instructions to incoming batters were all the same: play straight. it had worked versus prestwick when only two wickets had fallen, and it was hoped the same would happen this time. the first pairing saw saify and wasay in tandem and things looked a little worrying when, after four overs, they'd made just a net 212. but then saif opened his shoulders in over five and 12 more were added to calm the nerves. akbar malik and hasan then batted well as the second pair, adding another 24 - aky's cover- driven 4 being a memorable shot! then jasu singh and fahed added 20, before saad and haider brought up the tail with a thumping 37! nice. so victory, and a share of the title with ferguslie and prestwick. only one defeat all year and real progress, particularly with the batting. a few of this year's players are still eligible next year and so the future's bright for the club at this its youngest age-group. completely unacceptable! whoa there - don't shoot the messenger - your webmaster's not castigating the 15s for losing a match; nope, that's acceptable, but what isn't is the way fingers were pointed post-match as some of the side decided it was certain other individuals' faults that defeat had been tasted on the night. and so for the avoidance of doubt i'm going to make this as clear as i can by using UPPER CASE letters (!): AT POLOC WE PLAY, WE WIN, WE LOSE - AND WE SOMETIMES EVEN DRAW - AS A TEAM. finger-pointing at, and blaming, your team-mates - no matter who you are - is unacceptable and won't be tolerated. but let's talk about the cricket now: the 'locster 15s had won the league the night previously and were unbeaten in the league when the dark side came calling for a re-scheduled match. [the first match had seen the 'dale 14 for 3 in the seventh over when rain saved them!] and, with daylight at a premium, the match was 15-overs-a-side. the 'dale won the toss and - rightly - chose to bat first. things started well enough for the 'loc. 15 for 2 after five overs was a tidy start with no evidence of the shambles that was to follow. over six went for 12 tho' and signalled "warning". but the boys were obviously too busy polishing their imaginary league winners' medals to heed it. the bowling deteriorated and the fielding was poor, and downright lazy in places. who were the guys in white masquerading as poloc players was the question being asked? catches were grassed, mis-fields were a-plenty and hampo' was losing the plot as it all unfolded. henderson at six, and mahmood at seven, were making hay and the latter being dropped off shorty's bowling would cost the 'locsters very dear indeed as he went on to score an unbeaten 26 from just 16 balls.