Freuchie marked the fortieth anniversary of their historic Village Cup triumph at Lord’s by clinching the North East Championship title on Saturday.

In a dramatic winner-takes-all clash with second top Huntly at Freuchie Park, the Fifers held their nerve to win a low-scoring encounter and earn a play-off against Watsonian for a place in next year’s Eastern Premier league.

The Fifers were sent in to bat under threatening skies and were soon in difficulty on 49-4 as Alec MacLennan took full advantage of helpful conditions. MacLennan picked-up the key wicket of South African Werner Brand on his way to figures of 5-36 from seven overs. However, Brand’s 21-ball 25 was to prove crucial as all batters struggled to enjoy a sustained stay at the crease.

Robbie Wright’s 16 was Freuchie’s next best contribution off the bat as the hosts were dismissed for just 103 in 26.3 overs – their title hopes hanging by a thread. Their fightback in the field reflected all the spirit and never-say-die attitude of that famous Village Cup campaign all those years ago.

Wright added to his valuable contribution with the bat to claim 5-31 as Freuchie dismissed their Highland rivals for 78 in 23.4 overs. 

They may have just managed to beat the weather at Freuchie but elsewhere in the country it was a soggy end to the season.

Indeed, only one match reached a conclusion in the Eastern Premier, though it was a significant one for the country’s leading run scorer as RH Corstorphine sent Arbroath crashing to a sixth consecutive defeat, the visitors prevailing by 169 runs on DLS at Lochlands.   

Having put their opponents in to bat, Arbroath were clearly looking for early wickets, and there was cause for optimism when Johnathan van Zyl and Owen Gould fell in quick succession to Craig Ross and Shouvik Chakraborthy to reduce RHC to 66-2.

However, Liam Naylor was a man on a mission. Having been unavailable for several games, the young Scotland prospect went into the match still needing 14 runs to reach the remarkable milestone of 1,000 for the season.

He not only made it to the landmark but soared passed it in style, going on to post his seventh century in only twelve innings. Naylor scored a magnificent 173 from only 108 deliveries, stroking sixteen boundaries and eight punishing maximums as the home bowlers were put to the sword.

His effort helped the Edinburgh side post an imposing 354-8, Robert Thompson adding a late 53. Ross, Chakraborthy, Keegan Crawford and Craig Cameron all claimed two wickets as Arbroath stuck to their task. However, any hopes of an unlikely run-chase soon evaporated as they lost four wickets with the total on just 10.

Chakraborthy led a mini-recovery with 46 while Cameron made 33 before Chris Robb hit out for an unbeaten 39-ball 63 in what was already a lost cause.

The Lochlands match was the only one which reached a conclusion on a day when rain was the winner.

Elsewhere, Falkland had looked on course to finish the season on a high after dismissing Edinburgh South for just 165 in the capital, Zane Schlebusch and Taha Khan the most successful bowlers with 4-29 and 3-43. However, the batters never got the opportunity to finish the job.

Meigle restricted Stewarts Melville to 228-9 at Victory Park in another match which failed to go beyond half-time while Grange had reached 264-8 from 43 overs against Forfarshire, Harjeet Brar having claimed 5-43, when the weather intervened at Portgower Place.

As in the east, only one match survived in Western Premiership One, but it was a significant one as Kelburne raced to an astonishing nine-wicket win over Stenhousemuir at Whitehaugh to secure top-flight survival.

Veteran left-arm spinner Dougie Wylie returned remarkable figure of 4-2, helping dismiss the visitors for a paltry 43 in 20.2 overs, the Paisley side reaching the target in just 8.2 overs to consign Uddingston to the drop with already-relegated Dumfries.