Millar shines as Moore’s boys pick up sliverware

The Donegal side provided the opposition once again this time and it turned out to be a cracking final which was only decided midway through the last over.

The Saints batted first and were given a solid start by Rammohan Goud and Michael Rankin before the latter was out for 23. Jamie Millar was the man who made the breakthrough and the Drummond bowler went on to pick up five for 31 in an eight-over spell that seemed to take the game away from St Johnston.

Goud was still there however and he went on to make a very valuable 57 while league skipper Ian Macbeth’s 20 not out at the end helped the Boathole boys to a decent total of 177 all out.

Several showers then led to a D/L re-calculation and Drummond were subsequently set 163 to win in 34 overs. They started reasonably well too, with the innings anchored by the experienced Ricky McDaid.

The former Ireland International put on 72 for the fourth wicket with skipper Moore (29) but just as the Roe Valley side seemed set to cruise to victory, McDaid skied one to long off at was out for 58.

After that the game changed. Drummond’s lower order caught in the headlights just a bit despite needing only 23 more to win after McDaid departed. Jassi Wallia and Kushpal Singh claimed two wickets apiece and the batting side brought more pressure on themselves with some poor running and quite a bit of hesitancy.

In the end though they fell over the line to secure a two wicket win with just three balls of their innings left. It was probably the right result overall, but boy did they make hard work of closing it out. Jamie Millar, with five for 31 and 23 runs in the reply, picked up the man-of-the-match award after an excellent individual display.

Speaking on picking up the trophy, the Drummond captain was delighted to have broken their duck after quite a long wait.

“We lost out in the last two finals of this competition so we’re hardly winning out of turn,” he said.

“It hasn’t been a great season for us in the league but this is our first senior trophy in over a decade and it means a lot to the club.

“We were getting nervous towards the end and we made far harder work of it than we should but St Johnston are a good team and they fought all the way.”

Meanwhile it has been a miserable season for Sion Mills and it seems to be ending in disarray after Ryan O’Neill’s men were unable to fulfil their fixture against Glendermott at the weekend owing to difficulties with their ground.

That result confirmed that the Tyrone outfit, celebrating their 150th anniversary this year of course, would finish bottom of the division without a win to their name.

Should Newbuildings pass an inspection on their Foyle College ground in the coming days, Sion will be relegated.