by Gareth McCullough
After a convincing win the weekend before the men’s second team were back in action at UP against a struggling Cregagh side.
Bangor won the toss and duly elected to bowl which proved to be a very good decision!
A fine opening spell from Mark Best saw him return figures of 2 for 6 off 4 overs and this set us up well for what was to come.
Following on from Best Max Walker bowled a beautiful spell down the hill using the wing to his advantage and getting the ball to hoop about and claiming 4 wickets in his first 5 overs, needing 1 wicket for a 5fer it went down to the last ball of his allotted overs and eventually he got the wicket and well deserved acclaim!
Bates bowling up the hill deserved more than his return of 1 for 27 and was key in restricting the visitors scoring.
Tidying up the tail Simpson got a wicket with his first ball and the Cregagh innings came to a close when Wilson had their no. 11 caught behind
Chasing 79 to win JK fell early without troubling the scorers but Josh McMillan and Daniel Rayner set about taking away any hope Cregagh had of victory by putting on a 66 run partnership for the second wicket. McMillan batted well for classy half century and the game was over in the 13th over.
Cregagh 2 78 (22 overs, M Keenan 20, M Best 2-6, M Walker 5-24)
Bangor 2 79-2 (12.2 overs, J McMillan 42*, D Rayner 28)
Bangor 2 beat Cregagh 2 by 8 wickets
Armagh vs Bangor
by Chris Pyper
Bangor made the journey to the Mall for their most recent encounter in NCU Senior League One against Armagh. Bangor lost the toss and were inserted into bat. The reasoning of the home side would soon become clear.
In the second over, a delivery pitched back of a length never got any form of lift off the wicket and skidded past McMillan at shin height to bowl him for eight. The same thing would happen two overs later to overseas Brodie Harrison as he was trapped LBW, Bangor slumping to 11-2 and looking precarious on a pitch that seemed to be playing up in the early stages of the game.
A mere few balls later, Seb Yeates was removed by a beautiful away-swinging delivery by overseas Liebenberg, leaving him caught at slip. This led to the partnership of McMillan and Hutchinson, who were determined to combine their youth and experience to rebuild the innings. McMillan showed some beautiful stroke-making ability, hitting two sumptuous boundaries early in his innings. Unfortunately, this foray was short-lived, as McMillan was removed caught and bowled for ten.
After a period of strong resistance, Hutchinson too met his end, being given out LBW off another low-bouncing delivery. Kirkpatrick and Parker were now at the crease and were steadfast in their attempts to nullify a pitch that seemed to be becoming easier to bat on. The two made it to drinks and seemed to show some resistance, some glimmer of hope for a team in disarray. However, drinks, as it so often does, claimed its victim in the form of Parker on this occasion. Parker was out caught and bowled, seeking to continue to put pressure on the opposition, and leaving for 20 runs scored. In a couple of overs, Kirkpatrick too was removed in a somewhat controversial LBW decision, as he attempted to sweep a full delivery by Hoey.
Angus Farrell and Michael Skelly went in quick succession, caught behind and bowled respectively. Pyper was the final wicket to fall, caught behind, bringing the Bangor innings to an end, all out for ninety.
The teams skipped tea, going straight into the bowling innings. Pyper and Skelly opened the bowling, hoping to gain some early inroads. The two charged in tirelessly, searching for an early wicket, but to no avail. The Armagh batsmen, with time on their side, were able to weather the storm in the face of multiple LBW shouts and aggressive stump-hunting.
George Prince came on as a change bowler and made a breakthrough, bowling Wilson with an excellent delivery on the top of off stump. Harrison worked doggedly at the other end, gaining two wickets himself, caught at mid-on and caught at slip, as Prince claimed a rebound from an Angus Farrell attempt, or “assist”, as he may refer to it.
Ultimately, Armagh claimed a seven-wicket victory and, in the process, handed Bangor their first loss of the league campaign.
This was a sobering Saturday for Bangor. A poor day, no doubt, but one this team will resolve to learn from. Every season is not without setbacks, and the great teams learn from these setbacks, ultimately coming back from them a more resilient, well-rounded, and better team. Bangor will ameliorate their shortcomings and come together as a group. Good days are ahead, akin to so many of those that the Bangor men have had already this year.
This team have more to offer; they will be back.
Bangor 90 (31 overs, A Kirkpatrick 26, J Parker 20, M Wright 3-30, M Hoey 4-18)
Armagh 91-3 (20 overs, S Wilson 30, M Steenson 20*, B Harrison 2-20)
Armagh beat Bangor by 7 wickets
