Northern Counties progress to North of Scotland Senior Cup final by default after Nairn County forfeit final four clash

Northern Counties Cricket Club have reached their second cup final of the season without bowling a ball after Nairn County could not raise a team.

The two sides were supposed to meet in Inverness at Northern Meeting Park tomorrow afternoon, but instead Counties will progress to the final by default.

They had already sealed their place in the T20 Cup final last weekend, beating both Ross County and Fort Augustus in a round robin group.

In that final, Counties will take on Forres, who won a low-scoring match against Elgin last Saturday.

Nairn County were due to be the third team in that group, but had to pull out on that occasion too.

Counties will discover their Senior Cup final opponents tomorrow when Ross County host Fort Augustus at Castle Leod in Strathpeffer.

Before that, though, comes a potentially season-defining weekend next week, as Fort Augustus visit the Meeting Park in the league on Saturday looking to end Counties' perfect record – which could make the title race a foregone conclusion should it extend into the second half of the season.

Then, next Sunday, Counties will represent the North of Scotland in the national Challenge Cup when they travel to Kelso for a quarter final clash.

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