FRASER WATTS' latest century helped propel Carlton to a 143-run victory at home to champions Aberdeenshire but the former Scotland batsman insisted only the win mattered.
The hosts' success set them up nicely for this weekend's derby with Grange, with many observers convinced the race for the title is already a duel between the capital clubs.
But Watts is too experienced and streetwise to become caught up in such speculation.
He said: "Of course it was nice to get some more runs under my belt but the win was the thing.
"I don't believe for a minute that at this stage of the season you can narrow down the list of contenders. "Aberdeenshire will recover and they will be right up there, as will Arbroath, who have come back strongly after their shaky start."
Watts' 103 helped Carlton to 263, with Rory McCann adding 63. Chayank Gosain finished with four for 35 as Aberdeenshire crashed to 120 all out.
Grange beat Stoneywood-Dyce by eight wickets after the latter slumped to 134 all out. George Munsey in plundered a quick 67 as the Edinburgh side reached their target in a mere 12.4 overs.
Heriot'sdefeated Watsonians by five wickets at Myreside. Ryan Brown bowled beautifully to take six for 62 as Watsonians made 236. James Hearn (77no) then combined with Mark Watt (34) to blunt the home attack.
Ross McLean's top-notch all-round performance was the prime feature of Arbroath's triumph at the expense of RH Corstorphine at Inverleith. He hit an unbeaten 124 to inspire his side to 256 for six before taking three scalps as RHC were dismissed for 189.
At Scroggie Park, Forfarshire beat Falkland by 34 runs. Aman Bailwal (56) and Ryan Watson, with 32 against his former team, laid the foundations for a tally of 186 for nine.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article