Premiership: Loss will not make Benny McGill give up on league title

BENNY McGill believes he can still end his top flight career with a Premiership winners' medal despite Arbroath's heavy defeat to title rivals Forfarshire.

McGill announced before Saturday's crucial Angus derby that this will be his final season playing for the Lochlands club's first string. He failed to mark the occasion of his 200th SNCL appearance as he would have wanted, taking just one wicket and suffering a first-ball duck with the bat.

However, it was merely symptomatic of a collective off-day by Arbroath who went down by 60 runs, in the process conceding second place to their local rivals ahead of the title play-offs which begin on Sunday. Only a couple of percentage points separate the top three with Carlton still leading the way and McGill said: "We've had a great season whatever happens in the last three games of the season. It is still very tight between the top three."

Having won the toss, home skipper Fraser Burnett had no hesitation in asking Forfarshire to bat first. Conditions certainly seemed to favour the bowlers after heavy overnight rain which caused a delayed start and a reduction in overs to 40 a side. However, the Arbroath attack were strangely out of sorts, conceding a host of extras, while the visiting batsmen displayed great resolve. The attribute was epitomised by Ryan Watson who notched the game's top score of 48. This was not a typical hard-hitting, boundary-laden knock from the former Saltires batsman.

Instead, the Forfarshire captain got his head down, progressing mainly in ones and twos in an innings which included just four boundaries.

He had good support from Graeme Garden who made 29 while Jalees Ahmed produced a late cameo of 19no as the visitors posted a respectable 184. Harsha Vithana and Greg Peal each claimed three wickets for Arbroath. The Lochlands troops made the worst possible start to their reply when the skipper was trapped in front by Brendan Ford in the first over. His departure sparked a steady stream of wickets as the home side lost several key players in quick successio - Vithanan, the Sri Lankan professional, Ross McLean and Marc Petrie.

At 32-4, the Lichties' cause looked lost though the presence at the crease of Saltires all-rounder Calvin Burnett and Australian Harry Byrnes Howe offered a glimmer of hope. Both players managed to get starts but both also fell in the pursuit of runs as the rate rose inexorably and man of the match Ryan Watson had the pair caught in the deep.In the end Arbroath managed to make into three figures thanks to some spirited late order hitting from Peal, who finished unbeaten on 39, but it was all too late.

McGill, who has amassed 285 wickets and more than 2,500 runs over the years, added: "I think the end of this season is a good time for me to retire and make way for more of the good young kids we have coming through."

In the only other game to survive in either division of the SNCL, Stoneywood-Dyce got the win they needed against Dunfermline Knights to avoid the relegation play-offs and plunge Ayr into the bottom four. After a delayed start at People's Park, skipper George Ninan led from the front with 3-8 as Knights were dismissed for just 101.

The hosts then cruised to a five-wicket win with Jonathan Fletcher hitting an unbeaten half-century.