Gala suffered a heartbreaking East Premier League play off defeat on Saturday.
The Meigle Park club lost by 23 runs to Strathmore and Perthshire Union champions Falkland at Freuchie CC to end a fantastic league winning season with a narrow defeat.
Batting first, Falkland were soon in some trouble at 32 for 3 but an excellent 88 run partnership between Sri Lankan professional Harsha Cooray (47) and Scotland under 19 cap Lyle Robertson (50) put Falkland in charge.
But Gala fought back well, with Jack Halls crucially taking both batsmen, and Falkland eventually all out for 175.
Halls finished with his best ever figures of 5 for 32, with Gala’s own Sri Lankan professional Upul Indrasiri (2 for 15) and Dinesh Tharanga (2 for 20) taking the remaining wickets.
In reply, Gala got off to a steady start before Falkland’s Alan Hamilton took an incredible hat-trick to leave Gala 23 for 4 and seemingly out of the game.
But back came Gala again as Sid Ponneri (21) and Ash Rhode (22) supported an outstanding knock by captain Josh Irvine (71) to leave the Borders side needing 39 from the last 10 overs to win promotion to the highest level in Scottish club cricket.
However, when Irvine was caught on the boundary, sparking wild celebrations amongst the Falkland side, it was game over for Gala who eventually finished 152 all out.
Hamilton finished with a superb 6 for 38, with Gala wishing Falkland the best of luck in the Premier League next season,
Despite the loss, Gala still enjoyed a fantastic season which saw the team win both the East of Scotland Championship and Border T20 Cup, while also making the Scottish T20 finals day for first time ever.
Falkland
G. Watson run out 22
E. Sloan ct & b D. Tharanga 8
S. Meikle ct & b U. Indrasiri 0
H. Cooray ct U. Indrasiri b J. Halls 47
L. Robertson ct J. Irvine b J. Halls 50
A. Ferguson st D. Millar b J. Halls 7
C. Neillies b J. Halls 2
B. Ditchmen ct. R Irvine b U. Indrasiri 6
L. Briggs not out 13
R. Hepburn lbw J. Halls 0
A. Hamilton b D. Tharanga 0
Extras – 20
Total – 175 for ten wickets
R. Irvine 7-1-35-0; D. Tharanga 8-3-20-2; U. Indrasiri 10-4-15-2; S. Paterson 5-1-33-0; A. Rhode 10-0-39-0; J. Halls 10-0-32-5.
Gala
S. Ponneri lbw b L. Robertson 21
F. Rutherford ct H. Cooray b A. Hamilton 10
J. Halls lbw b A. Hamilton 0
U. Indrasiri ct A. Ferguson b A. Hamilton 0
D. Millar lbw b A. Hamilton 0
J. Irvine ct S. Meikle b A. Hamilton 71
J. Crooks run out 3
A. Rhode b L. Robertson 22
D. Tharanga run out 7
R. Irvine not out 5
S. Paterson ct. L. Robertson b A. Hamilton 2
Extras – 6
Total – 152 for ten wickets
R. Hepburn 9-2-24-0; L. Robertson 10-2-26-2; A. Hamilton 9.3-2-38-6; L. Briggs 3-0-16-0; B. Ditchmen 10-1-31-0; H. Cooray 6-0-16-0.