THERE was little to cheer up West Fife cricket enthusiasts on Saturday with three defeats from four starts.

And Dunfermline and Carnegie’s run of five wins came to a shuddering halt at Leith Links.

In Division Three, Broomhall took on Boroughmuir at Meggatland desperate for a win to get up the table.

But on losing the toss the ‘Hall were asked to bat and were in trouble immediately.

They struggled for 31 overs and a total of 69 was never going to be enough. The hosts attacked from the first ball and managed to get the runs in 10 overs leaving Broomhall at the bottom of the table.

Broomhall (1) 69, (C Hoefling 19, M Ali 15, N Dawney 3-17, S Singh 3-19).

Boroughmuir (20) 73-1, (A Hussain 31 not out, C Hoefling 1-31).

Dunfermline and Carnegie were caught out on a difficult batting surface at Leith in their Division Four match but still should have won the game.

The West Fifers won the toss and inserted Leith, who struggled against good, accurate bowling with wickets falling at regular intervals as the ball moved around and also bounced awkwardly.

Only two batsmen made double figures as Mike Busby and skipper Wayne Sullivan grabbed three wickets each. The target of 119 was still a challenge and while Jordan Davidson made a confident start, wickets started to fall.

It meant that with five wickets left, Dunfermline and Carnegie needed another 50 runs but then two more batsmen were out.

Bruce Callan took them towards their target steadily but with only three needed, Billy Strange tried to finish the match with a single hit but was caught on the boundary leaving the West Fifers third.

Leith FAB (20) 119, (Z Ali 46, W Sullivan 3-4, M Busby 3-19, J Hutton 2-11).

Dunfermline and Carnegie (8) 116, (J Davidson 26, W Sullivan 23, M Callan 21, B Callan 16 not out, W Shah 4-26).

Broomhall’s second XI improved their position in Division Seven with a comfortable win over Edinburgh South third XI.

Broomhall batted first at The Cairns and a half century from Paul Stringer, along with a useful 47 from Robin Orr, saw a total of 213 realised.

South never really threatened but the visitors scored reasonably steadily. Charlie Stoddart produced a fine spell of spin bowling, taking 2-9 in eight overs, and this strangled the Edinburgh challenge as they finished 52 runs short.

Broomhall second XI (20) 213 for 5, (P Stringer 58, R Orr 47, M Warren 31).

Edinburgh South third XI (8) 161, (K Singh 36, H Barratt 35, C Hall 4-42, C Stoddart 2-9, A Pearson 2-19).

Dunfermline and Carnegie’s second XI lost a high-scoring game in the same division at McKane Park to Morton second XI by 27 runs. Chris Hill captured four wickets but their batting was hampered by the loss of some cheap middle order wickets.

Morton second XI (20) 192 for 7, (N Ramsay 60, V Rajkumar 53, C Hill 4-28).

Dunfermline and Carnegie second XI (9) 165-7, (D Cooper 40, M Honeyford 33, C Hill 25, B Kumar 3-18, N Ramsay 3-28).