Ballymena's wait for a win pro-Lawn-ed

One year ago, nearly to the day, Ballymena were celebrating a brilliant last ball victory over league champions Waringstown but this time it was the turn of the home team to taste last ball success, leaving the Eaton Park men still looking for their first Premier League points of the season.

Waringstown had first use of the pitch and openers Kyle McCallan and James Hall made full use of a fast outfield. F

ormer Irish international McCallan, who is in the form of his life after two successive scores upward of 140 was the wicket that Ballymena craved and it should have arrived courtesy of Michael Glass, he found the opener's edge only to see the chance spilled, by the normally safe hands of David Kennedy at first slip. Kennedy did atone for his error by catching Hall (27) a few overs later off the bowling of Aphale.

Lee Nelson (59) and Keith Morrison (41*) gave solid support for McCallan who finished with another unbeaten century to his name however Ballymena were rueing a fielding error by their skipper when he failed to gather the ball which would have resulted in the opener being run out when only on 19 and again when on 69 he was missed behind the stumps by the wicketkeeper.

These costly errors resulted in Waringstown posting a final total of 273, 20 runs more than Ballymena had hoped to concede at the start of the match.

In reply, they lost Robert Kennedy early on to what appeared to be a 'bump' ball but his brother David looked in excellent form as he set about dispatching the opening bowlers to all parts of the ground.

He was ably supported by Aphale who came to the crease after Carl Williams (18) was stumped by wicketkeeper Bushe. The pair batted sensibly, putting on 70 for the 3rd wicket before Aphale (26) departed to an excellent catch in the deep.

Worse was to follow as very next ball Kennedy (73) was also heading back to the pavilion, following a thin edge through to the wicketkeeper.

James Kennedy and Andy Kirkpatrick then put on a quickfire stand of 60 with good aggressive stroke play and strong running between the wickets before the latter departed for a well made 24.

When Kennedy (41) was bowled by South African professional Victor Mpitsang, it was left to Glass and Gareth Fisher (26) to keep up with the required run rate, which they did with some hard and aggressive hitting.

When Simon McDowell replaced Glass (24) at the crease, Ballymena required 17 runs for victory from the final over and despite McDowell's brave effort they could only manage 13 of the required runs and only two from the final ball when a maximum was required, leaving themselves agonisingly only four runs short of the league champions' total.

This Saturday Ballymena will once again be trying to upset the odds when they host North Down in the NCU Senior Cup at Eaton Park. The match will start at 12 noon.

SECONDS

Sit up and take notice, Ballymena Seconds are causing quite a stir at Eaton Park.

This Saturday they entertain holders, Academy, in what is one of the ties of the round in the Junior Cup, just days after a brilliant victory over a strong Waringstown II team in the league at the weekend.

Two wins from three in Section One of Division Two and a crushing seven wicket defeat of Instonians II in the first round of the cup have Neil Fullerton's side in confident mood approaching their massive second round clash.

"The players have been outstanding," said wicketkeeper Fullerton. "We have a nice mixture of youth and experience and I couldn't have asked for any more from them over the past couple of weeks.

"Everyone seems to be enjoying it and although mistakes have been made there's a resilience within the group which shines through when needed."

There's obviously no lack of talent as well. Ballymena set Waringstown a tough target of 182 for victory and thanks to some excellent bowling and tenacious fielding the home side edged through with just nine runs to spare.

Stephen Colgan scored an excellent 69 in the hosts 181 for six, although it needed a vital unbeaten seventh wicket partnership between David Thompson (43 not out) and Fullerton (22 not out) of 44 to get them to their competitive total.

Thompson is proving to be the find of the season. He strikes the ball very cleanly, takes wickets with his accurate off spin and is an excellent fielder and has already played for the senior side twice this summer.

In reply Waringstown never got on top of things, struggling early against the pace of Jack Gibson, whose ten overs brought two wickets at a cost of just 19 runs.

But it was the spin of Thompson and teenager Adam Jackson that ultimately won the day for Ballymena. They grabbed six wickets between them including those of dangermen Alan Waite and Geoff Heyburn as the visitors fell just short.

Ballymena's fielding was a mixed bag. They dropped two straightforward catches in the deep at vital stages of the run chase yet Gibson's run out of Josh Hall with a direct hit from short fine leg and Jeff Martin's running catch at deep square leg to see the end of Heyburn were out of the top drawer.

Now it's the tough challenge of senior side Academy. One thing's for sure though, the men from Mallusk will be taking nothing for granted after this result.

THIRDS

Ballymena 3rd XI, runners up in the Minor Cup last season, overcame a plucky Armagh 4th XI to progress to a second round tie against local rivals Muckamore.

Only three of the Armagh players got into double figures but one of them, opener Marshall went on to make an unbeaten 102, leaving Ballymena chasing 166 to win. Paul Campbell was the most economical of the Ballymena bowlers taking 2 wickets for only 8 runs but it was Trevor McBurney’s hat-trick which was the “champagne moment”.

Ballymena’s response got off to a brisk start with Andy Lytle smashing three 4s and a 6 before being undone by the slowness of the wicket for 20. Adam Conn and Brian McGookin soon followed and Ballymena looked in some trouble at 41 for 3.

James Carmichael has made several solid starts this season and once again looked set to do serious damage with the bat when he was brilliantly caught for 31. Simon Law and John Nicholl kept the runs ticking over before Law was run out for 11.

This brought Paul Campbell to the crease and suddenly the game swung towards Ballymena as he sent the ball flying to all parts of the ground (nine 4s and one 6). Campbell finally reached his 50 with the winning boundary having been dropped twice on 46. Alistair Gibson chipped in with an unbeaten 13.

Three more players made their debut for the Thirds this week: Matthew Bell, Adam Conn and Simon Law.

SCHOOLS' CRICKET

Ballymena Academy Under 12s had a mixed week, being dumped out of the cup but then recording a 93 run win over Larne Grammar.

On Wednesday they travelled to BRA and were well beaten by a much stronger side. They were on the road again on Friday to play Larne in the league and batting first, scored 120 with the home side bowling 36 wides!

Josh Bill top scored with 27. Josh was the star of the show with the ball as he claimed 5 wickets for 5 runs in his 4 overs as Larne were bowled out for 27. This leaves the Under 12 with 3 wins from 3 in the league. This Saturday they are at home to Coleraine Inst.

FIXTURES

Challenge Cup - Ballymena v Northern Down (Eaton Park, 12 noon); Junior Cup - Ballymena II v Academy (Eaton Park, 1pm); Division Three Section One - Ballymena III v Waringstown III (Academy); Division Three Section Four - Instonians IV v Ballymena IV.