A game of two halves.

A combination of excellent bowling from the home side, a bit of an inferiority complex from the visitors and some less than clever batting meant Carlton struggled to an under par 68 all out.

There was a lot to be positive about in the reply though as Carlton bowled (with Harry, in particular, delivering a fine, accurate spell) and fielded extremely well, ensuring Grange had to battle all the way, reaching their target in the penultimate over.

U13s win another nail biting finish.

Batting first after weathering the opening bowler (2 straight maidens) Oliver B set about the others, reaching his 30  to be replaced by Calum E who all too soon returned (caught) to be replaced by Joseph. Meanwhile at the other end Tom D kept nudging the singles to keep the score moving, going for 9 when he was caught.  Rory had a brief innings (9 before also being caught).  Dougal joined Joseph and between them they guided the score beyond 100 when Joseph retired on 32 after 2 lusty pulls to the boundary.  Charlie came in for the final couple of overs and finished unbeaten on 2 with Dougal still there on 17. 108 was a decent score.

The W Lothian openers set off like trains, with Kamran and Alex the unlucky bowlers. A good runout removed one of the openers but his replacement carried on and after 4 overs 37 were on the board.  Calum  E and Rory came on as first change pair and slowed the rate down with Calum getting a deserved wicket shortly after their main strike batsman had retired.  Keshav was very frugal 4-0-4-2 which meant there was greater desperation in the batters and a series of runouts (4 in the innings) as they tried to press.  Good fielding all round and a solid keeping performance by Olly who stopped most things down the leg side and took a good catch that side as well.  Oliver Fenton bowled 4 tight overs with some real pace and ended with 4-2-14-2.  The final 2 overs were left to Charlie and Tom, with 20 for a visitor’s  victory and only 2 wickets remaining  Carlton looked favourites but some strong hitting and  some extras leaked dropped it to 8 required in the final over with 1 wicket standing.  All fielders to the ropes and good straight bowling by Tom allowed them to pick up 4 singles and as they dashed for a quick single there was the final runout.

It's always dramatic...

A ruthless performance from Carlton saw them hand out a second crishing defeat of the season to SMRH. Disciplined batting from Rory, Keshav and Tom saw them all to maximum 30s as their side fell just short of their total earlier in the season.

Last time out the SMRH batters put up a good fight but this time they were blown away by a strong bowling and fielding performance with wickets shared around as Carlton notched up a 120 run win.

On a mercifully dry evening following yet another wet Monday, this match against old rivals Grange turned into a real classic.

The Carlton under 13 skipper always faces a tough task as he's inevitably asked to make sure that everybody is fully involved - at the same time as trying to win! Rory Allardice, fresh from his starring role in the senior 4th XI victory the previous day, has proved to be the ideal skipper this year and he managed to use 9 of his 10(!) available bowlers while still managing to contain Grange to 100 exactly. Typical of Rory the only bowler who remained unused was himself.

The skipper, delighted with the bowling and fielding of his side, opened the batting with Keshav but was soon back on the sidelines having picked out one of many fine Grange fielders. With Dougal soon adjudged lbw, it was left to Keshav to keep Carlton up with the run rate and he did so with a beautifully controlled innings, mixing solid defence with confident strokeplay. After Keshav retired unbeaten, Carlton were indebted to an excellent partnership between Calum and Harry. Both played patient innings, waiting for the rare bad ball to put away. Harry played one of his finest innings for Carlton, hitting over the top whenever the opportunity presented itself.

However, with the pressure increasing and overs running out both Harry and Calum perished, leaving the lower order to find a way home. Alex and Callum S contributed well to take Carlton to the brink of victory. With two needed off two balls, Zaid managed one but ran out Callum looking for a second. Oliver F was on strike for the final ball and he ran a scrambled leg bye to seal an exciting win.

The hosts managed to post 88 off their 20 overs, thanks in part to no fewer than 31 extras! Alex and Harry were the pick of the bowlers with economical spells, with Alex also picking up a couple of wickets.

Keshav played a captain's innnings and Harry continued his excellent form with the bat to have Carlton on easy street at 60 odd for none, but after Keshav and Harry's departures there was a collapse of epic proportions before the visitors crawled over the finishing line to win by 2 wickets.

The U13 A's recorded an exceptionally professional win when they came up against Watsonians.

Rory lost the toss and we were made to field on a green and old pitch that looked like it would help the bowlers throughout. Callum Sibley bowled a tidy opening spell as did Oli Fenton who was near enough unplayable as he hit the right areas throughout his spell. Watsonians scored slowly throughout their 20 overs with tight bowling from Charlie Kidd and Rory Allardice who bowled good spells to restrict the opposition to 72-7 after 20 overs including 2 good runouts. Tom Simpson kept well behind the sticks and took some good takes down the leg side.

Keshav and Dougal opened the innings for us and started off tentatively as they were slightly caught out by the lack of bounce and pace of the Watsonian bowlers. However they carried on and started to get into their stride, especially Dougal who played some very nice cut shots and managed to clear the field on the leg side well to score 31*.

Keshav was slightly slower in his scoring rate but managed to anchor the innings and finish on 29* with Rory only facing one ball at the end. A thoroughly convincing win over a decent Watsonian side, which was very pleasing after all the close games we have had recently!