Lisburn aim to keep run going

AFTER enduring a frustrating weekend due to the weather, Lisburn return to league action looking to maintain their excellent early season form, as they host CIYMS at Wallace Park on Saturday.

A win for the home side will cement their position at the summit of the Ulster Bank Premier League, and they are boosted by the return to the fold of their captain, Greg Thompson, back after his recent hockey commitments. He hopes that the momentum his team have built up during the early part of the season can be continued, but knows that the opposition are a decent force and not to be underestimated

“CIYMS are a dangerous outfit who can compete with any side on their day. Although they have lost some players, they have new faces in and several of their players are match winners. There will be no let-up in our standards: we have won three games against three of the better teams in the league, and our target is to make that 4 out of 4.”

With North Down and Waringstown facing off on the same day, Thompson knows that a win could well steal a march over one of those rivals, and with a run of winnable looking games in the league to follow, this is an opportunity for his side to really make a challenge for the league title in their 175 anniversary season.

Lisburn were halted in their progress last Saturday. due to play Dublin side Pembroke in the second round of the Bob Kerr Irish Cup, the game never saw a ball bowled as the rain fell through most of Saturday afternoon.

There is some doubt as to when the match will eventually be played; it was originally to be completed on the reserve date of May 29 in Dublin but due to that day being the date of the rearranged Senior Cup game against Instonians, a final solution has yet to be determined.

The Lisburn team seems to have developed a better balance than last season with new boy, Robert Rankin adding to the depth of both batting and bowling while the form of vice captain Davey Simpson with the bat has been a revelation. With scores of 90 not out, 12 and 56 not out in the three games so far he leads the run race batting at number 5 and with Ryan Ervine, Yasas Tillakaratne and Robert Rankin all threatening ‘big runs’ Lisburn should be aiming to set large targets to their opponents starting with CIYMS tomorrow. The game begins at 1.00pm.

Sunday sees Lisburn taking part in their third different competition in three weeks; the Club Turf trophy begins with a match against Limavady in the North West. The opposition is always of the highest order when facing Limavady but with a full strength team, Lisburn will hope for a good result in this 40 over encounter and maintain their winning streak. This game starts at 2.00pm.

Lisburn teams and fixtures for the weekend.

FIRSTS v CIYMS, PREMIER LEAGUE 1.00pm G.Thompson, R.Ervine, Y.Tillakaratne, D.Simpson, R.Rankin, H.van de Merwe, I.Whitten, A.Berry, D.McCann, R.Simpson, R.McConkey.

SECONDS v CIYMS SECONDS, LEAGUE, BELMONT, 1.00pm D.Graham[capt], G.Crowe, J.O’Hara, J.Bell, G.Elliott, C.Atkinson, D.Suffern, R.Booth, D.Halliday, J.McCallan, M.Berry.

THIRDS v PORTADOWN SECONDS, IST ROUND, MINOR CUP, FRIENDS 1.00pm

M.Hillis [capt], D.Kelly, M.Dufty, R.Graham, N.Tolerton, C.Redpath, S.Brown, P.Simpson, M.Glebe, J.Elliott, A.Darragh.