Shared honours in Ulster Cup clashes

It's been a miserable weekend for Glendermott, on the field at least, as the Rectory side followed up their narrow senior cup defeat by Brigade on Saturday with another reverse this time at home to Waringstown.

The visitors took first use with Kyle McCallan and James Hall opening, the forner of course still to be dismissed this season so far. They set about the hosts' attack early on and raced to a century partnership and looked on course to set the Belfast side up for a really big total.

Hancke von Rauenstein bowled well for the first time this season picking up 2-21, including the first to fall, that of James Hall for 44.

The game swung with the introduction into Glendermott's attack of Gregory McElhatton however and with his very first ball, a loosner though it may well have been, he saw McCallan (62) promptly plant one straight to Gary Neely.

That dismissal at least means the Irish International now has an average, albeit one of 607, but it is just so typical that having fended off some top quality bowling this season that his record would fall to a long hop.

To be fair to McElhatton, however the breakthrough spurred him on and he returned excellent figures of 5 for 22 as Waringstown were restricted to 179 for 9 in their 40 overs.

Glendermott's reply just never got going as McCallan turned the screw early, and Victor Mpitsang proved the perfect foil. The professional returned the impressive figures of 3 for 6 whilst James Hall rounded off an excellent day out by claiming 4 for 31 as Glendermott were dismissed for just 119.

Just over the tins, Brigade levelled things up as they edged out CIYMS in another close contest. The visitors were first in here as well and Barry Cooper carried his bat for an impressive, unbeaten 97 as CI posted 194 all out. Ryan Brace and Trevor Britton claimed 3 wickets apiece for the home team conceding 28 and 31 respectively in what looked a reasonable effort.

The hosts' reply started poorly as they lost a few early wickets before Johnny Thompson and Chris Dougherty produced a defining century partnership for the fourth wicket. Thompson was eventually out playing across the line to former Kiwi Test star Craig MacMillan for 71 whilst Dougherty made 57. That helped set Brigade up for the victory with the winning run hit with three balls to spare. Ben McCord with 4 for 36 was the pick of the NCU team's attack.

Up at Mageramason, Bready produced an excellent performance to account for Lisburn in a good scoring game. The visitors made a very bright start as Ryan Ervine showed his class with some excellent strokeplay, support coming in the shape of Tillakaratne and Greg Thompson with 36 and 26 respectively.

Ervine though proved impossible to shift, finally out after reaching his century as the visitors posted a daunting 215 for 3 in their 40 overs. The hosts then opted to open with professional Viraj Perera and the move proved a smart one as the Sri Lankan stood firm at the top of the order. Perera made 85 and Robert Rankin added 58 as they moved Bready into a challenging position.

Brian Scanlon then entered the fray and his unbeaten 31 steered the home team to a thoroughly deserved 5 wicket win that will go some way towards compensating for Saturday's senior cup loss to Limavady.

Eglinton were also in action and the villagers were beaten by Instonians but only after giving their illustrious visitors a real scare. The hosts never got started and wickets fell regularly as Neil Hamilton, Eugene Moleon, Andy White and Askhey Dhareula all picked up two wickets each.

Professional Adam Knezevic top scored for Eglinton with just 20 as they could muster just 70 all out. If Instonians thought the task was straightforward however they somehow managed to get themselves into all sorts of trouble in reply. Mark Averill and Knezevic picked up two quick wickets each as the NCU kingpins slumped to 17 for 5 before skipper Moleon entered the fray to restore order.

His unbeaten 37 allowed the visitors to ease over the line without any further damage but Eglinton can take heart from an excellent effort after such a poor start.

Donemana's miserable season continued as they crashed to s sixty run defeat away to Civil Service North at Stormont.

The home side's total of 215 for four was based primarily around a third wicket partnership of 150 between Irish international Nigel Jones (88), and New Zealand professional Kieran Noema-Barnett (78). Gareth McKee with 23 was the only other player to make double figures. Junior McBrine (3-51) was the most successful Donemana bowler, while his twin brother James (0-24) was the most economical.

In reply Nigel Jones (3-22) picked up early wickets, including that of Pakistan professional Azhar Shaffique for just 3 as Donemana slumped to 33 for 4. Dale Olphert's unbeaten 64 ensured respectability, but in truth they were totally outplayed in all aspects of the game. Graeme Boyd chipped in with 36, but they were dismissed for 155 with 5.2 overs remaining. Hamilton Coulter (2-36) offered good support to Jones.

At Comber, Fox Lodge gave North Down a scare before the home side prevailed by 11 runs. Australian professional Daniel Harding top scored with an unbeaten 63 in the North Down total of 214 for 9. Taimur Khan (48), Ryan Haire (37) and Andrew Haire (21*) all chipped in to ensure a decent total. Harding and Khan shared what proved to be a match winning stand of 105 for the fourth wicket, taking the score from 75-3 to 180 for 4. Andrew Britton (3-35), Andy McGinnis (2-33), and Gareth Heywood (2-52) were the wicket takers for Fox Lodge.

An opening stand of 91 between Dean McCarter (42) and Jason Milligan (38) put Fox Lodge in control, before Marty Moreland induced a collapse. He took 4 for 23 as six wickets fell for just 26 runs in 12 overs. Darryl Brown with 42, and a quick fire 37 from Andy McGinnis got the Foxes close, but in the end they fell 11 runs short with three balls remaining.

Limavady proved too strong for Carrick even without their injured captain Des Curry. A solid batting display – seven players reaching double figures - saw Limavady post 242 for 8. Richard McDaid (65), Stuart Thompson (41), Mark McDaid (39), and Chris Moore (30) were the main run scorers. Former Irish international Ryan Eagleson (3-45) was best with the ball for Carrickfergus.

Richard McDaid then took four for 27 to stifle the Carrick reply, as Richard Stirling, Adam Cowden, Danny O'Shea, and Ryan Eagleson all went cheaply. Stuart Thompson captured the proze wicket of South African professional Ross Gelderbloem for 29, and from that point the contest was effectively over. Young New Zealander Michael Taiaroa (75*) and Alex Haggan (38*) both took advantage as Limavady took their foot off the gas, and in the end Carrick finished on 220 for 7, 22 runs short.

Strabane were the big winners at Downpatrick, as they shrugged off the loss of Jon Beukes to a foot injury to crush the NCU side by 105 runs.

Peter Gillespie scored his second century in two days, sharing in a unbroken fourth wicket stand of 151 with his brother Mark. Peter hit 13 fours and 5 sixes in his 127 not out, while Mark was the more circumspect, hitting 3 fours and 2 sixes in his unbeaten 63. The final Strabane score of 258 for 3 a daunting one to chase.

Mohammed Farrukh top scored with 60 in the Downpatrick innings, but they could only manage 153 all out in 38 overs. James Cunningham with 21, and Paul Tate with 20 were the only other players to get any sort of a start. Barry Scott (2-2) and Marty Deans (2-37) were the main wicket takers for Strabane