History - History 2
1953 - 1956
It was now 1953 & Cults were back in Grade I.
They were in with a shout with winning the league title until a bad loss at Kemnay put paid to their hopes. Eventual winners, North also won the Aberdeenshire Cup. The following four years produced many fine individual performances but little success. Donald Yeats (Snr) was the main wicket taker with Larry Kinnaird, Bill Downie & Doug Calder the mainstays with the bat. Cults were unable to make real progress as the often failed to beat the top teams like Stoneywood.
1957 - 1959
In 1957 Cults looked to have a stronger team on paper as they captured three new players. They were Hugh Cochrane from Aberdeenshire, Andy Smith from Gordonians & Gordon Barron from Inverurie. Cults did manage a better performance in the league finishing in the top half but an early exit to Kintore in the Aberdeenshire Cup was disappointing. Donald Yeats (Snr) was as ever top wicket taker with 55 wickets along with new comer Andy Smith who took 41 wickets. Hugh Cochrane scored 271 runs & was well supported by Andy Smith & Gordon Barron.
The following year was a major disappointment as again Stoneywood beat Cults in the cup. The league performance was poor as Cults slumped to fifth bottom. Gordon Barron. was the top batsmen with 315 runs & as usual top bowler was Donald Yeats (Snr) with 55 wickets.
1960 - 1969
It was now the sixties & Cults were still a middle of the table team hoping to make the push to challenge for the major honours. A poor 1960 season was followed by a cup final appearance in 1961. After finishing fourth in the league mainly due to the fact that Gordon Cumming was able to play most of the season. A poor performance in Cults' first ever Aberdeenshire cup final was a big let down. Yet again it was Stoneywood who claimed the honours as they won by seven wickets.
In 1962 Cults slumped to the bottom half in the table the only highlight being when Kintore were put out for only nine runs. Donald Yeats (Snr) took 4-2 & Andy Smith took 5-3. Gordon Barron. & Andy Smith batted consistently as did Donnie Smith who was now emerging as a good bat, scoring 258 runs. Donald Yeats (Snr) & Gordon Cumming shared the wicket taking with 37 & 33 wickets respectively.
Finally in 1963 Cults made the breakthrough winning the Aberdeenshire Cup for the first time. The game is covered more fully elsewhere in the website suffice to say that Donnie Smith held the innings together with a superb 53 & was well supported by 15 year old David Stewart (who eventually went on to play for Worcester C.C.) who scored 27. St.Ronald chasing 116 to win were demolished by Gordon Cumming (7 for 10) & Donald Yeats (Snr) (3 for 10). Donnie Smith had a fine season scoring 244 runs & taking 29 wickets. Donald Yeats (Snr) was chief wicket taker with 29.
In 1964 Cults finished fourth in the league & retained the Aberdeenshire Cup by at last beating the "Auld Enemy" Stoneywood in the final. Donnie Smith, captain at the time, lead the way with an superb 75 to pass Stoneywood's total of 151. Bill Downie provided excellent support scoring 39 in an opening stand of 80. Donnie & Bill provided Cults with a good opening platform throughout the season.
In 1965 Cults should have won the league but they lost to Kintore in the 2nd last game & had a disastrous draw with Artisans in the last game. New recruit from Ellon, Jim Alexander took 32 wickets at 3.88 to win the Grade I bowling averages. George Buchan also bowled well to take 28 wickets. This was a season dominated by bowlers as no less than five Cults bowlers average 8 or less.
Season 1966 became Cults' most successful since the club inception, not only did they win the Grade 1 title for the first time they also won the Aberdeenshire Cup, beating Inverurie in the final. This also enabled Cults to claim the Thompson Shield (presented to the ACA by Bob Thomson President of Cults CC). The winning of the league was largely due to an unbeaten run of 8 games in which, in a vital game, the reigning champions, Kintore, were beaten by 4 wickets in a low scoring game. Jim Alexander was the match winner with 6 for 15 in 21 overs. In a season persistently spoiled by rain (the last 4 games were washed out) and on wickets made for bowling Ewan Fyfe remarkably took 25 wickets for 52 runs effectively winning the league for Cults. The Aberdeenshire Cup final of 1966 was a low scoring affair with Cults only scoring 73 but Inverurie were demolished by Gordon "Culty" Cumming who took 7 for 12 in 21 overs. The season was also notable for the emergence of Brian Stephen and Ewan Fyfe both of whom were to be influential players for Cults in the following years. Brian topped the batting with 208 runs. Ewan topped the bowling with 57 wickets at an average of 3.88 ably assisted by Jim Alexander with 30 wickets. Ewan's average won him the Grade 1 bowling trophy.
Season 1967 saw the introduction of a revised Grade structure that reduced Grade 1 to eight clubs, each playing each other twice. Cults retained the league title just pipping the newly promoted City Police side. The team could not maintain any real consistency and were beaten by Artisans in the first round of the Aberdeenshire Cup ending an unbeaten run in the cup of 10 games. To win the league Cults had to win their last three games against Inverurie, City Police (the favourites for the league at the time) and Artisans. After beating Inverurie by 8 wickets with Brian Stephen notching a brilliant 92 not out, Cults met City Police who at one time were 73 for 1, were all out 79. Ewan Fyfe did the damage taking 5 for 13 in 9 overs. In reply, Cults reached 64 for 9 needing 16 to win with the last man at the crease. In an unforgettable innings, Gordon Cumming hit two 4's and a six to win the game with Donnie Smith providing good support. Needing to win the last game and retain the title, Cults beat Artisans by 4 wickets by chasing 160 with Ewan Fyfe firing a quick fire 40 when Cults were in trouble. Brian Stephen dominated the batting with 360 runs followed by Andy Smith with 226. Ewan Fyfe was the chief wicket taker with 46 with Gordon Cumming taking 21 at little cost.
By comparison to recent seasons, 1968 was poor indeed. Cults did not recover from a very poor start in which they only won one of their first six games. In the Aberdeenshire Cup, Inverurie were beaten in the 1st round but a heavy defeat in the 2nd round by Artisans ended Cults' interest in the competition. In a very low scoring season Cults only passed the 100 run mark twice. The batting, was again, topped by Brian Stephen with 213 runs followed by Donnie Smith with 151. Brian Stephen completed a good all round season by emerging as a genuine opening bowler taking 62 wickets at 8.17 runs each. Ewan Fyfe was runner up with 26 wickets.
Cults returned to form in 1969, although being equal top with Artisans, lost the title on average. Cults can thank another poor start for not winning the league, winning only one of their first five league games. Included in this poor start was a first round Aberdeenshire cup defeat at the hands of Stoneywood. Brian Stephen topped the batting with 276 runs but both Donnie Smith and Bill Downie scored consistently scoring 201 and 221 runs respectively. Brian Stephen finished as the top bowler with 40 wickets ably assisted by Bill Lawson (a recent recruit from Woodside) and Ewan Fyfe who took 28 and 20 wickets repectively.
1970 - 1979
Cults returned to the top of Grade 1 in 1970, just pipping Kintore to win the league by only four points. After a good start when they went seven games without losing, they inevitability went through their bad patch, losing three games in a row, including another Aberdeenshire Cup first round defeat to Stoneywood. Brian Stephen again topped the batting with 310 runs, however, Bill Lawson and Donnie Smith both had reasonable totals of 229 and 175 runs each. Brian Stephen and Ewan Fyfe were the main wicket takers with 45 and 44 wickets each. Bill Lawson completed a good all round season with 26 wickets.
In 1971, Cults slumped disastrously, finishing second bottom of the league, only being saved from relegation to a poor Westburn side. This was undoubtedly the team's worst Grade 1 performance since returning to the Grade in 1953. The only good performance in the league was a win over eventual champions Kintore by 5 wickets. Cults again drew Stoneywood in the first round of the cup and duly took no further part in the competition. The problem lay clearly in the bowling where Brian Stephen and Ewan Fyfe led the way with 39 and 33 wickets respectively, but at averages of 13 and 10 per wicket, obviously not match winning performances. The batting produced plenty of runs with Brian Stephen scoring a club record of 438 runs only failing to pass 25 on three occasions out of fourteen. Bill Lawson, Bill Downie and Donnie Smith with 215, 186 and 174 all batted creditably. Kintore where now clearly the team to beat and were to prove so for the next four seasons.
In season 1972, Cults were in a transitional stage and eventually finished a creditable third in the league, although well behind the leading team, Kintore. Once again, a poor start blighted the team's chances of the league. The cup was again a first round exit this time to Artisans. Cults however did perform well in the Turriff Cup, a new 40 over competition, losing a close fought semi final to Stoneywood. It was a season of high scoring with Donnie Smith and Bill Downie topping the batting with 355 and 311 with Brian Stephen, Bill Mitchell, Bill Lawson and Bill Black all supporting well with good performances.
In 1973 season was one of changes, Brian Stephen departed for the Middle East, but the team was more than strengthened by the acquisition of Harry Milne, Gordon "Culty" Cumming (after a brief flirtation with St.Ronald) and Ray Smith from St.Ronald. All three had a good season scoring runs and taking wickets. These acquisitions linked to the continued good form of Donnie Smith, Bill Downie and Bill Lawson (with bat and ball) and the emergence of Davie Golder (an acquisition from City Police) as a top class wicket/batsman meant that Cults had a very good season. In the league, the team lost twice to Kintore generally winning the rest of their games, the only poor performance being against Fraserburgh when only chasing 59 runs. In the Aberdeenshire cup Cults were again drawn in the first round against Stoneywood and at last secured a victory. Artisans were defeated in the second round but Cults were unable to overcome eventual cup winners Fraserburgh in the Semi Final. In a season where eight batsmen scored more than 100 runs the outstanding performances were from Donnie Smith (335 runs), Davie Golder (307 runs) and Bill Lawson (299 runs) with Ray Smith (199 runs), Bill Downie (148 runs), Harry Milne (144 runs), Ramsay Mowat (104 runs) and Gordon Cummings (101 runs) all contributing well. The main wicket takers were Gordon "Culty" Cumming with 45 wickets, Harry Milne with 44, Ray Smith with 30 and Bill Lawson with 26, all with averages below 10. Davie Golder had a great season behind the stumps claiming 19 victims.
In 1974, Cults again performed credibly, finishing second in the league to Kintore, although the gap between Kintore and the rest was wide, Kintore winning the league by 5 clear games. In the cup, Cults' poor form continued losing badly to Artisans in the second round. The team fared much better in the Turriff Cup, reaching the final beating Turriff, Caledonian and Inverurie, eventually losing a closely fought game to Kintore. A poor batting performance where only Bill Lawson batted well followed a good bowling performance. Top batsmen for the season were Davie Golder, Bill Lawson and Ray Smith with 312, 264 and 267 runs respectively, ably assisted by Donnie Smith (194), Ramsay Mowat (165), Harry Milne (122), Ewan Fyfe (138) and Gordon Cumming (210). Cults were now clearly a team of all-rounders with Harry Milne and Ray Smith taking the most wickets with 35 apiece and Bill Lawson and Gordon Cumming following with 28 and 21 wickets respectively. Ray's league average of 6.27 won him the Grade 1 bowling trophy. Davie Golder again turned in a fine wicket keeping performance with 18 victims.
In 1975 Cults form in the league slumped badly finishing 5th in the league after losing eight games. In the Aberdeenshire Cup, however, at long last and for the first time in nine years Cults won the cup. Cults avoided a first round tie but had to play Kintore in the semi final. Kintore, batting first were shot out for 62 largely due to a magnificent performance by Ray Smith who took 6 for 16 in 20 overs (including 13 maidens). Cults scraped past Kintore's total with only two wickets to spare with Davie Golder top scoring with 20. In the final Cults beat Artisans by three wickets. In the Turriff Cup first round the team lost to Turriff. The game was played on the day following the cup semi final over Kintore - enough said. The seasons batting was dominated by Davie Golder with 380 runs with Donnie Smith (280), Bill Livingstone (196) and Ray Smith (160) supporting well. Gordon Cumming, Bill Lawson, Ramsay Mowat and Geoff McQuillan all scored over 100 runs. Harry Milne headed the bowling averages with 52 wickets at an average of 7.11 each followed by Ray Smith with 41 wickets. Bill Livingstone again took more than 20 wickets. Davie Golder again performed well behind the stumps with 16 victims.
Cults league formed improved in 1976, however, they were a distant third to Stoneywood and Kintore who had the same points with Stoneywood claiming the league on averages. Cults did not really threaten the top two taking only two pints from four games, those two points against Stoneywood being due to a staggering all round performance from Harry Milne where he practically won the game on his own. Harry scored 104 not out, the next highest score being 6 and then took 6 for 29 in 21 overs to win the game for Cults. Cults' defence of the Aberdeenshire cup was short lived as they lost in the first round to Kintore. Both Donnie Smith and Harry Milne passed 350 runs for the season with Davie Golder third scoring 271 runs including a 97 not out against Westburn. Bill Lawson and Bill Livingstone also batted well scoring 197 and 169 runs apiece. Harry Milne was again the top bowler completing a fine all round performance with 51 wickets. Brian Cumming, Bill Lawson and Ewan Fyfe provided good support with 25, 24 and 20 wickets respectively.
In 1977 season was not dissimilar to 1976, Cults finishing a distant 3rd in the league to Kintore and Turriff, Kintore taking the title on averages. After ten games Cults were well in the hunt for the title, however a disastrous finish the team won only one of their last eight games that being against champions Kintore. Cults' problem was lack of bowling support to opener Harry Milne. Donnie Smith scored a great 92 against Balmoral in the league out of 227 for 3. In the Aberdeenshire Cup Cults were beaten by Kintore. Donnie Smith who, in an outstanding season, scored a club record 502 runs topped the batting. Harry Milne again finished second with 379 runs at a very good average of 34.35, his league average of 39.30 winning him the Grade 1 batting trophy. Only two other batsmen, Davie Golder with 199 and Hamish MacDougall with 138 whom were drafted in to open the batting. Harry Milne again topped the bowling with 51 wickets. Only Ray Smith of the other bowlers took more than 20 wickets.
The return of Brian Stephen, during the season, from the Middle East in 1978 provided the missing link that Cults had been looking for. Cults only lost two games, those being the cup final to Kintore, their first loss and the last league game of the season against Alford when the league was already secured. Brian Stephen's all round performance was incredible. In 19 games he scored 598 runs at an average of 35.17 and took 80 wickets at 6.43 both club records. In addition, his 70 league wickets at 5.75 took the Grade 1 bowling trophy. With a very strong batting side and a continually improving Allan Park wicket, combined with the bowling of Brian Stephen and Harry Milne, Cults were a match for any team. Cults proved this potential by proceeding to win the league for the succeeding two years and the cup in the next (1981). The finest wins in 1978 league season were a nine wicket victory over Kintore and a 113 run defeat of Stoneywood after declaring on 187 for 5. Cults eventually won the league after a comfortable draw against Kintore, challengers Inverurie losing their game. Cults also reached the Aberdeenshire Cup Final beating Turriff and Stoneywood on the way. The cup final itself turned out to be an anti climax. After winning the toss, Cults put Kintore into bat. The bowling was shared by Brian Stephen and Harry Milne who took 4 for 51 and 4 for 52 in restricting Kintore to 119 runs. After a steady start from Donnie Smith (25), Davie Golder (12), Harry Milne (22) and Bill Lawson (11), Cults crashed from a winning position following 5 run outs. Only Ray Smith with 17 batted well at the end. After farming the bowling, he failed to hit a winning four off the last ball with all the Kintore fielders on the boundary. Apart from Brian Stephen both Donnie Smith with 358 runs and Davie Golder with 357 runs had very good seasons. In addition, Harry Milne and Bill Lawson scored 241 and 257 runs apiece with a young Graham Cobban making his first mark in Grade 1 with 167 runs. In the bowling averages, Brian Stephen was top with 80 wickets as previously mentioned, with fellow opener Harry Milne completed another fine all round season with 45 wickets. Davie Golder continued his good form behind the stumps with 16 victims.
Cults retained the league title in 1979 without losing a game. Despite this, they were chased all the way by a strong Ellon team. Because of an earlier postponement, Cults had to play Ellon twice in their last three games. A close draw at Ellon, 153 for 6 (Ellon) to Cults' 151 for 9 finished in very poor light was followed by the game at the Allan Park. After a slow batting performance on a damp wicket in which only Harry Milne with 39 supported by Davie Golder (19) and Donnie Smith (18) batted well, Cults reached 115 in 50 overs. Despite looking like winning at one point, Ellon eventually succumbed for 108 all out with Harry Milne and Dave Alexander doing the damage with 5 for 44 and 3 for 17 respectively. Cults lost in the first round of the Aberdeenshire Cup to Dyce by 17 runs Davie Golder and Brian Stephen topped the batting with 428 and 385 runs respectively. Donnie Smith again performed well with 268 runs with Graham Cobban and Bill Lawson showing good form with 160 and 156 runs each. Harry Milne topped the bowling with 50 wickets, whose 49 league wickets at 6.36 each was good enough to win the Grade 1 bowling title. Brian Stephen completed another good all round season with 36 wickets, Dave Alexander at last beginning to show real bowling form and Graeme Davidson (formerly of Westburn) also performed well. Davie Golder's 21 wicket keeping victims won him the Wilson Cup for Grade wicket keepers.
It was now 1953 & Cults were back in Grade I.
They were in with a shout with winning the league title until a bad loss at Kemnay put paid to their hopes. Eventual winners, North also won the Aberdeenshire Cup. The following four years produced many fine individual performances but little success. Donald Yeats (Snr) was the main wicket taker with Larry Kinnaird, Bill Downie & Doug Calder the mainstays with the bat. Cults were unable to make real progress as the often failed to beat the top teams like Stoneywood.
1957 - 1959
In 1957 Cults looked to have a stronger team on paper as they captured three new players. They were Hugh Cochrane from Aberdeenshire, Andy Smith from Gordonians & Gordon Barron from Inverurie. Cults did manage a better performance in the league finishing in the top half but an early exit to Kintore in the Aberdeenshire Cup was disappointing. Donald Yeats (Snr) was as ever top wicket taker with 55 wickets along with new comer Andy Smith who took 41 wickets. Hugh Cochrane scored 271 runs & was well supported by Andy Smith & Gordon Barron.
The following year was a major disappointment as again Stoneywood beat Cults in the cup. The league performance was poor as Cults slumped to fifth bottom. Gordon Barron. was the top batsmen with 315 runs & as usual top bowler was Donald Yeats (Snr) with 55 wickets.
1960 - 1969
It was now the sixties & Cults were still a middle of the table team hoping to make the push to challenge for the major honours. A poor 1960 season was followed by a cup final appearance in 1961. After finishing fourth in the league mainly due to the fact that Gordon Cumming was able to play most of the season. A poor performance in Cults' first ever Aberdeenshire cup final was a big let down. Yet again it was Stoneywood who claimed the honours as they won by seven wickets.
In 1962 Cults slumped to the bottom half in the table the only highlight being when Kintore were put out for only nine runs. Donald Yeats (Snr) took 4-2 & Andy Smith took 5-3. Gordon Barron. & Andy Smith batted consistently as did Donnie Smith who was now emerging as a good bat, scoring 258 runs. Donald Yeats (Snr) & Gordon Cumming shared the wicket taking with 37 & 33 wickets respectively.
Finally in 1963 Cults made the breakthrough winning the Aberdeenshire Cup for the first time. The game is covered more fully elsewhere in the website suffice to say that Donnie Smith held the innings together with a superb 53 & was well supported by 15 year old David Stewart (who eventually went on to play for Worcester C.C.) who scored 27. St.Ronald chasing 116 to win were demolished by Gordon Cumming (7 for 10) & Donald Yeats (Snr) (3 for 10). Donnie Smith had a fine season scoring 244 runs & taking 29 wickets. Donald Yeats (Snr) was chief wicket taker with 29.
In 1964 Cults finished fourth in the league & retained the Aberdeenshire Cup by at last beating the "Auld Enemy" Stoneywood in the final. Donnie Smith, captain at the time, lead the way with an superb 75 to pass Stoneywood's total of 151. Bill Downie provided excellent support scoring 39 in an opening stand of 80. Donnie & Bill provided Cults with a good opening platform throughout the season.
In 1965 Cults should have won the league but they lost to Kintore in the 2nd last game & had a disastrous draw with Artisans in the last game. New recruit from Ellon, Jim Alexander took 32 wickets at 3.88 to win the Grade I bowling averages. George Buchan also bowled well to take 28 wickets. This was a season dominated by bowlers as no less than five Cults bowlers average 8 or less.
Season 1966 became Cults' most successful since the club inception, not only did they win the Grade 1 title for the first time they also won the Aberdeenshire Cup, beating Inverurie in the final. This also enabled Cults to claim the Thompson Shield (presented to the ACA by Bob Thomson President of Cults CC). The winning of the league was largely due to an unbeaten run of 8 games in which, in a vital game, the reigning champions, Kintore, were beaten by 4 wickets in a low scoring game. Jim Alexander was the match winner with 6 for 15 in 21 overs. In a season persistently spoiled by rain (the last 4 games were washed out) and on wickets made for bowling Ewan Fyfe remarkably took 25 wickets for 52 runs effectively winning the league for Cults. The Aberdeenshire Cup final of 1966 was a low scoring affair with Cults only scoring 73 but Inverurie were demolished by Gordon "Culty" Cumming who took 7 for 12 in 21 overs. The season was also notable for the emergence of Brian Stephen and Ewan Fyfe both of whom were to be influential players for Cults in the following years. Brian topped the batting with 208 runs. Ewan topped the bowling with 57 wickets at an average of 3.88 ably assisted by Jim Alexander with 30 wickets. Ewan's average won him the Grade 1 bowling trophy.
Season 1967 saw the introduction of a revised Grade structure that reduced Grade 1 to eight clubs, each playing each other twice. Cults retained the league title just pipping the newly promoted City Police side. The team could not maintain any real consistency and were beaten by Artisans in the first round of the Aberdeenshire Cup ending an unbeaten run in the cup of 10 games. To win the league Cults had to win their last three games against Inverurie, City Police (the favourites for the league at the time) and Artisans. After beating Inverurie by 8 wickets with Brian Stephen notching a brilliant 92 not out, Cults met City Police who at one time were 73 for 1, were all out 79. Ewan Fyfe did the damage taking 5 for 13 in 9 overs. In reply, Cults reached 64 for 9 needing 16 to win with the last man at the crease. In an unforgettable innings, Gordon Cumming hit two 4's and a six to win the game with Donnie Smith providing good support. Needing to win the last game and retain the title, Cults beat Artisans by 4 wickets by chasing 160 with Ewan Fyfe firing a quick fire 40 when Cults were in trouble. Brian Stephen dominated the batting with 360 runs followed by Andy Smith with 226. Ewan Fyfe was the chief wicket taker with 46 with Gordon Cumming taking 21 at little cost.
By comparison to recent seasons, 1968 was poor indeed. Cults did not recover from a very poor start in which they only won one of their first six games. In the Aberdeenshire Cup, Inverurie were beaten in the 1st round but a heavy defeat in the 2nd round by Artisans ended Cults' interest in the competition. In a very low scoring season Cults only passed the 100 run mark twice. The batting, was again, topped by Brian Stephen with 213 runs followed by Donnie Smith with 151. Brian Stephen completed a good all round season by emerging as a genuine opening bowler taking 62 wickets at 8.17 runs each. Ewan Fyfe was runner up with 26 wickets.
Cults returned to form in 1969, although being equal top with Artisans, lost the title on average. Cults can thank another poor start for not winning the league, winning only one of their first five league games. Included in this poor start was a first round Aberdeenshire cup defeat at the hands of Stoneywood. Brian Stephen topped the batting with 276 runs but both Donnie Smith and Bill Downie scored consistently scoring 201 and 221 runs respectively. Brian Stephen finished as the top bowler with 40 wickets ably assisted by Bill Lawson (a recent recruit from Woodside) and Ewan Fyfe who took 28 and 20 wickets repectively.
1970 - 1979
Cults returned to the top of Grade 1 in 1970, just pipping Kintore to win the league by only four points. After a good start when they went seven games without losing, they inevitability went through their bad patch, losing three games in a row, including another Aberdeenshire Cup first round defeat to Stoneywood. Brian Stephen again topped the batting with 310 runs, however, Bill Lawson and Donnie Smith both had reasonable totals of 229 and 175 runs each. Brian Stephen and Ewan Fyfe were the main wicket takers with 45 and 44 wickets each. Bill Lawson completed a good all round season with 26 wickets.
In 1971, Cults slumped disastrously, finishing second bottom of the league, only being saved from relegation to a poor Westburn side. This was undoubtedly the team's worst Grade 1 performance since returning to the Grade in 1953. The only good performance in the league was a win over eventual champions Kintore by 5 wickets. Cults again drew Stoneywood in the first round of the cup and duly took no further part in the competition. The problem lay clearly in the bowling where Brian Stephen and Ewan Fyfe led the way with 39 and 33 wickets respectively, but at averages of 13 and 10 per wicket, obviously not match winning performances. The batting produced plenty of runs with Brian Stephen scoring a club record of 438 runs only failing to pass 25 on three occasions out of fourteen. Bill Lawson, Bill Downie and Donnie Smith with 215, 186 and 174 all batted creditably. Kintore where now clearly the team to beat and were to prove so for the next four seasons.
In season 1972, Cults were in a transitional stage and eventually finished a creditable third in the league, although well behind the leading team, Kintore. Once again, a poor start blighted the team's chances of the league. The cup was again a first round exit this time to Artisans. Cults however did perform well in the Turriff Cup, a new 40 over competition, losing a close fought semi final to Stoneywood. It was a season of high scoring with Donnie Smith and Bill Downie topping the batting with 355 and 311 with Brian Stephen, Bill Mitchell, Bill Lawson and Bill Black all supporting well with good performances.
In 1973 season was one of changes, Brian Stephen departed for the Middle East, but the team was more than strengthened by the acquisition of Harry Milne, Gordon "Culty" Cumming (after a brief flirtation with St.Ronald) and Ray Smith from St.Ronald. All three had a good season scoring runs and taking wickets. These acquisitions linked to the continued good form of Donnie Smith, Bill Downie and Bill Lawson (with bat and ball) and the emergence of Davie Golder (an acquisition from City Police) as a top class wicket/batsman meant that Cults had a very good season. In the league, the team lost twice to Kintore generally winning the rest of their games, the only poor performance being against Fraserburgh when only chasing 59 runs. In the Aberdeenshire cup Cults were again drawn in the first round against Stoneywood and at last secured a victory. Artisans were defeated in the second round but Cults were unable to overcome eventual cup winners Fraserburgh in the Semi Final. In a season where eight batsmen scored more than 100 runs the outstanding performances were from Donnie Smith (335 runs), Davie Golder (307 runs) and Bill Lawson (299 runs) with Ray Smith (199 runs), Bill Downie (148 runs), Harry Milne (144 runs), Ramsay Mowat (104 runs) and Gordon Cummings (101 runs) all contributing well. The main wicket takers were Gordon "Culty" Cumming with 45 wickets, Harry Milne with 44, Ray Smith with 30 and Bill Lawson with 26, all with averages below 10. Davie Golder had a great season behind the stumps claiming 19 victims.
In 1974, Cults again performed credibly, finishing second in the league to Kintore, although the gap between Kintore and the rest was wide, Kintore winning the league by 5 clear games. In the cup, Cults' poor form continued losing badly to Artisans in the second round. The team fared much better in the Turriff Cup, reaching the final beating Turriff, Caledonian and Inverurie, eventually losing a closely fought game to Kintore. A poor batting performance where only Bill Lawson batted well followed a good bowling performance. Top batsmen for the season were Davie Golder, Bill Lawson and Ray Smith with 312, 264 and 267 runs respectively, ably assisted by Donnie Smith (194), Ramsay Mowat (165), Harry Milne (122), Ewan Fyfe (138) and Gordon Cumming (210). Cults were now clearly a team of all-rounders with Harry Milne and Ray Smith taking the most wickets with 35 apiece and Bill Lawson and Gordon Cumming following with 28 and 21 wickets respectively. Ray's league average of 6.27 won him the Grade 1 bowling trophy. Davie Golder again turned in a fine wicket keeping performance with 18 victims.
In 1975 Cults form in the league slumped badly finishing 5th in the league after losing eight games. In the Aberdeenshire Cup, however, at long last and for the first time in nine years Cults won the cup. Cults avoided a first round tie but had to play Kintore in the semi final. Kintore, batting first were shot out for 62 largely due to a magnificent performance by Ray Smith who took 6 for 16 in 20 overs (including 13 maidens). Cults scraped past Kintore's total with only two wickets to spare with Davie Golder top scoring with 20. In the final Cults beat Artisans by three wickets. In the Turriff Cup first round the team lost to Turriff. The game was played on the day following the cup semi final over Kintore - enough said. The seasons batting was dominated by Davie Golder with 380 runs with Donnie Smith (280), Bill Livingstone (196) and Ray Smith (160) supporting well. Gordon Cumming, Bill Lawson, Ramsay Mowat and Geoff McQuillan all scored over 100 runs. Harry Milne headed the bowling averages with 52 wickets at an average of 7.11 each followed by Ray Smith with 41 wickets. Bill Livingstone again took more than 20 wickets. Davie Golder again performed well behind the stumps with 16 victims.
Cults league formed improved in 1976, however, they were a distant third to Stoneywood and Kintore who had the same points with Stoneywood claiming the league on averages. Cults did not really threaten the top two taking only two pints from four games, those two points against Stoneywood being due to a staggering all round performance from Harry Milne where he practically won the game on his own. Harry scored 104 not out, the next highest score being 6 and then took 6 for 29 in 21 overs to win the game for Cults. Cults' defence of the Aberdeenshire cup was short lived as they lost in the first round to Kintore. Both Donnie Smith and Harry Milne passed 350 runs for the season with Davie Golder third scoring 271 runs including a 97 not out against Westburn. Bill Lawson and Bill Livingstone also batted well scoring 197 and 169 runs apiece. Harry Milne was again the top bowler completing a fine all round performance with 51 wickets. Brian Cumming, Bill Lawson and Ewan Fyfe provided good support with 25, 24 and 20 wickets respectively.
In 1977 season was not dissimilar to 1976, Cults finishing a distant 3rd in the league to Kintore and Turriff, Kintore taking the title on averages. After ten games Cults were well in the hunt for the title, however a disastrous finish the team won only one of their last eight games that being against champions Kintore. Cults' problem was lack of bowling support to opener Harry Milne. Donnie Smith scored a great 92 against Balmoral in the league out of 227 for 3. In the Aberdeenshire Cup Cults were beaten by Kintore. Donnie Smith who, in an outstanding season, scored a club record 502 runs topped the batting. Harry Milne again finished second with 379 runs at a very good average of 34.35, his league average of 39.30 winning him the Grade 1 batting trophy. Only two other batsmen, Davie Golder with 199 and Hamish MacDougall with 138 whom were drafted in to open the batting. Harry Milne again topped the bowling with 51 wickets. Only Ray Smith of the other bowlers took more than 20 wickets.
The return of Brian Stephen, during the season, from the Middle East in 1978 provided the missing link that Cults had been looking for. Cults only lost two games, those being the cup final to Kintore, their first loss and the last league game of the season against Alford when the league was already secured. Brian Stephen's all round performance was incredible. In 19 games he scored 598 runs at an average of 35.17 and took 80 wickets at 6.43 both club records. In addition, his 70 league wickets at 5.75 took the Grade 1 bowling trophy. With a very strong batting side and a continually improving Allan Park wicket, combined with the bowling of Brian Stephen and Harry Milne, Cults were a match for any team. Cults proved this potential by proceeding to win the league for the succeeding two years and the cup in the next (1981). The finest wins in 1978 league season were a nine wicket victory over Kintore and a 113 run defeat of Stoneywood after declaring on 187 for 5. Cults eventually won the league after a comfortable draw against Kintore, challengers Inverurie losing their game. Cults also reached the Aberdeenshire Cup Final beating Turriff and Stoneywood on the way. The cup final itself turned out to be an anti climax. After winning the toss, Cults put Kintore into bat. The bowling was shared by Brian Stephen and Harry Milne who took 4 for 51 and 4 for 52 in restricting Kintore to 119 runs. After a steady start from Donnie Smith (25), Davie Golder (12), Harry Milne (22) and Bill Lawson (11), Cults crashed from a winning position following 5 run outs. Only Ray Smith with 17 batted well at the end. After farming the bowling, he failed to hit a winning four off the last ball with all the Kintore fielders on the boundary. Apart from Brian Stephen both Donnie Smith with 358 runs and Davie Golder with 357 runs had very good seasons. In addition, Harry Milne and Bill Lawson scored 241 and 257 runs apiece with a young Graham Cobban making his first mark in Grade 1 with 167 runs. In the bowling averages, Brian Stephen was top with 80 wickets as previously mentioned, with fellow opener Harry Milne completed another fine all round season with 45 wickets. Davie Golder continued his good form behind the stumps with 16 victims.
Cults retained the league title in 1979 without losing a game. Despite this, they were chased all the way by a strong Ellon team. Because of an earlier postponement, Cults had to play Ellon twice in their last three games. A close draw at Ellon, 153 for 6 (Ellon) to Cults' 151 for 9 finished in very poor light was followed by the game at the Allan Park. After a slow batting performance on a damp wicket in which only Harry Milne with 39 supported by Davie Golder (19) and Donnie Smith (18) batted well, Cults reached 115 in 50 overs. Despite looking like winning at one point, Ellon eventually succumbed for 108 all out with Harry Milne and Dave Alexander doing the damage with 5 for 44 and 3 for 17 respectively. Cults lost in the first round of the Aberdeenshire Cup to Dyce by 17 runs Davie Golder and Brian Stephen topped the batting with 428 and 385 runs respectively. Donnie Smith again performed well with 268 runs with Graham Cobban and Bill Lawson showing good form with 160 and 156 runs each. Harry Milne topped the bowling with 50 wickets, whose 49 league wickets at 6.36 each was good enough to win the Grade 1 bowling title. Brian Stephen completed another good all round season with 36 wickets, Dave Alexander at last beginning to show real bowling form and Graeme Davidson (formerly of Westburn) also performed well. Davie Golder's 21 wicket keeping victims won him the Wilson Cup for Grade wicket keepers.
RSS Feeds