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Villagers blow dream start

Thursday, 1 July 2010

Johnny Gardiner contemplates his next ball.

AS expected, Brigade won through to the final of this season's Northern Bank senior cup on Saturday but the Beechgrove boys were certainly given a fright by hosts Eglinton before progressing to next month's showpiece. The second semi final was due to be completed last night with Donemana and Strabane slugging it out at the Holm; the visitors hampered by the fact that their opening bowling pair Phil Eaglestone (International duty) and Martin Deans (foot injury) were both ruled out of the contest and wicket-keeper Paul McNamee and overseas professional Jonathan Beukes were also struggling with niggles.
Mark Simpson won the toss on Saturday and elected to bat first on a good track but surprisingly the visitors were totally unable to dominate the Eglinton attack at the start of their innings. Chris Dougherty was first to go with the score on just 6 before Eglinton professional Adam Knezevic had Iftikhar Hussein caught behind for 11. That left Brigade on 19 for 2 and Eglinton tails were up before their former player Richard Wylie teamed up with Niall McDonnell to set the recovery in motion. Wylie made 28 and McDonnell 29 as they added 61 for the third wicket, however Andy Christie's side sensed their chance again when both were out in quick succession with the score on 80. Just when they needed a big innings the visitors got one; Johnny Thompson anchoring the middle order with a very composed 61. The normally flamboyant all-rounder was patience personified early on but hit 7 fours and a six as Brigade clawed their way into the ascendancy. Having been 116 for 7 Thompson's efforts saw the Beechgrove side close on 209 all out as Ricky Stewart claimed the bowling honours with excellent figures of 5 for 35. Despite a great effort in the field the villagers sensed they had it all to do although Karl O'Doherty and gave them a solid platform with a 30 run first wicket stand with Chris Pierce. Just as was the case in the first innings however the bowlers were very much on top from the outset and a quick look through the sectionals show where the game was won and lost. The villagers, for example, made just 82 runs in the first 30 overs although you have to give full credit for that to the Brigade attack. Mark Simpson and Johnny Thompson conceded just 38 runs from the first 13 overs and took the wickets of O'Doherty for 6 and Pierce for 29 and although Andy Christie helped move the score on to 81 for 2, the overs were closing in. Trevor Britton and Iftikhar Hussein then took over the bowling duties and stifled the villagers even more; Britton claiming 1 for 18 in his 10 overs on his return from injury while Hussein was even more miserable, conceding just 8 runs in his 7 overs. Eglinton had no option but to go after the change bowlers and once again it was their former player Wylie that profited from the pressure created. The spinner took 4 wickets for 23 runs as his former team mates chased after him and Graeme Moore, the latter picking up 2 wickets for 24 runs. In the end Eglinton were well short- 70 runs in total and the fact that they gave Brigade a real scare will be of scant consolation. Andy Christie must now pick his side up for a vital league match at St Johnston next Saturday whilst Brigade can look forward to a couple of days out next month.
Elsewhere, Saturday's league action featured the Division 2 title race and events there really are heating up after joint leaders Bonds Glen inflicted another defeat on Burndennett as the scrap for top spot intensifies. Burndennett held the last unbeaten record in the region until recently but have now lost 5 out of 6 in all competitions since that flying start.

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