WESTERN UNION: By WILLIAM DICK

POLOC captain Brian Spence could not disguise his views on the ''freakish'' Hamilton Crescent wicket after his side had lost to title pace-setters West of Scotland.

The surface at Partick is regarded by most batsmen as the hardest and truest strip in the country - but on Saturday, the ball jagged around in pinball fashion.

The unpredictable bounce, along with a couple of dubious umpiring decisions, resulted in the end of Poloc's own slim championship hopes as they were shot out for a mere 73.

Not that West of Scotland were able to reach their 25-point bounty without alarms along the way. They appeared to be coasting at 43 without loss but, amid a full-scale dose of the jitters, they lost six wickets in limping past the target.

''Realistically, we were about 30 runs light but, as it turned out, even another dozen or so would have put them under heavy pressure,'' reflected Spence.

''As far as our batting display was concerned, I am not too bitter about the dodgy umpiring decisions, because these things happen quite frequently - but I was unhappy with the condition of the wicket.

''Normally, you turn up at Hamilton Crescent to find a super track - but that definitely wasn't the case this time.

''To my mind, it wasn't only under-prepared, it was also dangerous. I am not suggesting it was done deliberately, but we were all pretty surprised when we saw it.

''I appreciate that the weather has been wet, but there was no way we were going to get a proper game of cricket out there.

''Proper batting was always going to be impossible and it was inevitable that that match would be reduced to a lottery. In addition, it was ruined as a spectacle for the fans.''

Spence added: ''What summed it up for me was the fact that the two best batting pros in the league - Sajid Ali and Jason Arnberger - struggled.

''Chasing a total like that, you would never expect a team like West to make such a job of it - especially when they were facing what was essentially our second-string bowling attack.

''Having said that, I couldn't have asked for any more application and effort from my guys in the field. The way they battled for the team was tremendous.''

New Scotland squad member Craig Wright and Arnberger shared a nine-wicket haul as Poloc became bogged down.

In one 14-over mid-innings spell, they could only score four runs - losing the same number of wickets in the painful process.

Sajid had made 24 when his stumps were shattered by Wright, and from that moment Poloc seemed doomed.

Their cause was not aided when Keith Sheridan was given out caught behind by ICC Trophy umpire Bill Smith when the ball appeared to have brushed his hip.

David James was not a happy camper, either, after the other official, Mac Wyllie, ruled that he had got a nick to an Arnberger delivery which seemed to have come into contact only with his pad-straps.

There was a brief glimmer of Poloc hope as they captured six scalps for 28 runs, but West skipper Mark Townson sealed their fate by sweeping Sheridan to the backward square-leg boundary.

West's celebratory drinks became doubles all round as news came through that chief chasers Ferguslie had suffered a shock six-wicket home defeat at the hands of lowly Uddingston.

Australian seam bowler Paul Hoffman was the hero for the Bothwell Castle side, grabbing seven for 33 as the Paisley men capitulated to 80 all out.

Amir Hanif's second Union century on the trot for Clydesdale was all in vain as Greenock picked up maximum points off the last ball of a Glenpark nailbiter.

Hanif hit 112 and Scotland all-rounder Greig Williamson 38 to guide Dale to 208, but superb knocks from Andre Percival (86 not out) and veteran Peter Duthie (61) swung it in Greenock's favour.

GHK's winning sequence hit a stutter at Coatbridge, where they clung on for a draw at 106 for nine in pursuit of Drum-pellier's 114.

At Whitehaugh, Kelburne sent Kilmarnock hurtling towards relegation with an expected victory by 47 runs.