Delight as Derriaghy make it through to the National Cup final

On a damp wicket which gave a lot of assistance to the bowlers Derriaghy soon discovered they would have to work hard for runs and in the end managed to bat out 42 overs in scoring 119. Captain Matty Jennings led the way with 22 while Ross Bailey took 20 overs to notch up 18.

Although not a great total the Queensway men knew it was a competitive score in the prevailing conditions. Opening bowler Craig Lewis soon found his range and picked up 2 early wickets while Kenny Gilliland at the other end produced a magnificent spell of 10 overs costing just 8 runs and deserved more that his solitary wicket. With the help of a stunning catch by Bailey the hosts were reduced to 45 for 6 as Wayne Hughes with 2 for 6 and Mark Stinson 2 for 23 along with the returning Lewis 4 for 23 all bowled superbly as Laurelvale were eventually dismissed for 70.

Captain Jennings was justifiably proud of the achievement of his players who showed great determination and team spirit in the field.

Derriaghy will now play North Dublin side Malahide in the final on 25 August at a venue still to be decided. This Saturday Laurelvale travel to Queensway for a league fixture starting at 12 noon.

Meanwhile the club Second XI recorded another fine victory when defeating Saintfield by 64 runs. Batting first Derriaghy scored runs freely but also lost wickets at regular intervals and although they finished with 168 they left a possible 10 overs unused. Hayden Cartmill with a rapid 40 was top scorer while Mickey Fell (22) John Torrans and Kingsley Beckett each with 20 and Ryan Stewart 17 all made useful contributions.

In reply the visitors put on 36 for the first wicket but once P McConnell (24) was dismissed the home bowlers took charge and although conceding a large number of wides they dismissed the visitors for 104. The most successful bowlers on the day were C Moorhead with 3 for 14, T Moorhead with 2 for 21 and K Beckett 2 for 32.

This week the Seconds travel to Laurelvale while the Thirds are at home to Saintfield. In the semi final of the Colts cup Derriaghy bowed out to Lurgan making 134 all out as they attempted to chase down 176 for victory. The Under 11 and Under 13 sides did record wins against Laurelvale and CSNI respectively and as a result both of them topped their league group and now move on to knock out stages over the coming week.

Seconds climb league


Lisburn Seconds continued to climb the Junior 1 league with a very good win against Woodvale Seconds at Ballygomartin. They contained their opponents to a score of just 148 with some excellent bowling by the Lisburn attack.

Leading the way for the Seconds was Callum Irvine, the left arm Wallace schoolboy. He created havoc amongst the Woodvale batsmen with his pace and swing grabbing 6 wickets for 35 in a match winning performance. He was well backed up by Callum Atkinson with 1 for 23, Richard Booth, 1 for 29, Ian Whitten, 1 for 30 and captain Neal McDowell with 1 for 0.

Glenn Halliday with 69 not out and Dereck Suffern, 20 not out took them through to a convincing 7 wicket win which places the Seconds much more favourably in Junior 1.

The Thirds had mixed fortunes at the weekend. They faced a strong Instonians Thirds at Shaws Bridge on Saturday and lost heavily by almost 100 runs. They were chasing a large target of 214 for 6 in the allotted 35 overs with Daniel Nelson and David Whitten being the best of the Lisburn attack.

They had a much better result on Sunday in the Park when they easily defeated Millpark by 8 wickets.