Waringstown hit top form against Carrick

WARINGSTOWN produced one of their finest performances of the season on Saturday as they defeated a dangerous Carrickfergus side by 79 runs at Middle Road.

The villagers were yet again missing James Hall and Gary Kidd on international duty, but they dominated this match from the start, despite having the rough end of the conditions.

Carrick won the toss and bowled first in helpful conditions, but they failed to take advantage of a green-looking pitch as Kyle McCallan and Andrew Cousins, the Waringstown openers, got the innings off to a solid start with an 89-run stand.

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McCallan was the first to go, immediately after drinks, for 43 and Cousins fell shortly afterwards for 36, both the victims of youngster Matthew Kernohan.

Waringstown were wobbling slightly but they got back on track courtesy of a 51-run stand for the third wicket between captain Jonathan Bushe and Lee Nelson. They took the score to 152 before Bushe was given out caught behind, although the ball hit his forearm before being caught by wicketkeeper Ricky Stirling.

Nelson is finally finding form with the bat and he made a fine 46 as Waringstown eventually totalled 198 for seven. Simon Harrison also made a useful 17 at the end and the consensus was that the villagers had posted an excellent total on a pitch offering plenty of assistance for the bowlers.

The feeling that Carrick were in trouble was immediately vindicated as Victor Mpitsang and Harrison ripped into the home side's top order. They were soon reduced to three for two and then Mpitsang claimed the crucial scalp of the dangerous Michael Taiaroa and Harrison accounted for Ross Gelderbloem.

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At 29 for four it was hard to see a way back for Carrick, even though Andrew Cowden and Ryan Eagleson did briefly threaten a comeback. Batting was hard against the spinners Nelson and McCallan although was unlucky to be eventually dismissed, given out caught off the forearm like Bushe earlier in the day.

Carrick lost four wickets without scoring a run to slump to 77 for eight, and they only reached 119 all out thanks to some lusty blows from Danny O'Shea and Kernohan. Mpitsang finished with three for 11 off 7.5 overs, Harrison claimed two for 33, Nelson two for 28 and McCallan two for 26.

Waringstown are in Dublin on Friday to play The Hills in the quarter final of the Irish Cup at 1pm. The Villagers are NCU’s sole representatives in the competition and if they get the win, their semi-final opponents will be Merrion. Captain Jonathan Bushe said: “It’s a tough one for us, but I think we have the players to give them a good game and maybe win it.”

Waringstown are back to full strength with the return of Gary Kidd and James Hall from international duty. Keith Morrison is their only absentee, missing Friday’s game due to work commitments.

They travel to play struggling Ballymena on Saturday at 12noon.

Jonathan said: “They’re still a dangerous team. One thing with Ballymena is they’ll always be competitive.”

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