On Saturday Linlithgow travelled into Edinburgh to take on promotion chasing Watsonian’s 2’s at Myreside. Watsonians won the toss and elected to bat first on an excellent wicket. They got off to a fast start racing to 32 runs after just four overs. Linlithgow struck back in the 6th however when, after a rapid 22 runs, F.Sands was caught by Grant Raven at off the bowling of Clinton Dixon.

Linlithgow then stemmed the flow of runs thanks to fine bowling from Clinton Dixon, 9 overs 1 wicket for 24 runs and Paul Brookes, 9 overs 0 wickets for 26. Skipper Grant Raven came into the attack and bowled well in tandem with brother Andrew as the visitors continued to stifle the attacking prowess of the home side. Grant Raven finished with figures of 9 overs, 2 wickets for 32 runs. Craig Black took 2 wickets for 18 runs from 4 overs towards the end of the innings and Gregor Thomson finished the innings when he returned his second spell. Gregor took 2 wickets for 43 from his 9 overs. Watsonians were restricted to a final score of 174 for 7 wickets from their 45 overs.

In reply Linlithgow got of to a solid start with Dougie Voas and Gregor Thomson putting on 38 before Voas was caught behind wicket for 18 in the 8th over. During the next 15 overs Linlithgow slipped to 101 for 6 and the game appeared to drifting away from the visitors. Connor Clark batted well on debut making 27 runs but eventually, like so many others around him, a loose shot cost him his wicket.

Andrew Raven and Kevin Stump set about steadying the innings and did so in superb fashion. They batted together for the next 16 overs and carried Linlithgow to within 9 runs of victory before Stump was bowled by the experienced A. Sievewright for a priceless 29 runs. Clinton Dixon joined Andrew Raven at the crease and eased the tension with two big shots for 4 clinching the win for the visitors with 5 overs to spare. Andrew Raven finished with 16 not out having batted for just under an hour and a half, a vital knock in the context of the match.

Linlithgow collected the maximum 20 points from the match, while Watsons collected 9 bonus points from the fixture. This result coupled with a defeat for table topping Penicuik at home against Edinburgh means that Linlithgow are now once again top of the table with just 2 league games remaining. A win next Saturday away to Royal High Corstorphine will assure Linlithgow promotion to the Eastern Championship for season 2022.