Mixed Final Weekend for the First Eleven
6 min read
Bangor v Templepatrick – 03.09.21
Bangor 1st XI secured an exciting victory on an autumnal Friday evening against Templepatrick. Bangor won the toss and made the most of the depreciating light by electing to bat first. Ross Bryans opened the bowling for Templepatrick and claimed the wicket of James Patterson with the final ball of the first over. Adam McCusker joined Jonny Parker at the crease and the scoreboard ticked over nicely before McCusker was caught behind with the score on 24. Paddy English made his return to the 1st XI joining Parker at the crease and runs started to flow with a number of boundaries including a sizeable maximum from English. Parker and English displayed exceptional levels of fitness to pick off quick singles while the loose deliveries were dispatched to the boundary rope. Bangor had reached 70 runs in the 9th over before Parker was stumped for a well-constructed 26. English was caught on the long off boundary the following over for an entertaining 38. By the end of the 10th over Bangor were on 74 with 5 overs still to bowl. Kris King made the most of his upper body strength and bullied the Templepatrick attack with some ferocious hitting before being caught out for 19. The final few overs saw Jamie Scates-Veale and Adam Simmonitecontinue the free-flowing batting with boundaries to all parts of the ground. In the final over Simmonite caressed three glorious boundaries off Templepatrick’s opening bowler, Ross Bryans, and Bangor had amassed 123 runs for 5 wickets in their 15 overs.
Bangor were pleased with their positive batting performance and knew their total would be a challenge for Templepatrick. However, they were very aware of the need for tight bowling to ensure the victory. Adam Simmonite opened the bowling for Bangor and immediately started to create chances. However, it wasn’t until the score was on 33 that Josh Bates claimed the first wicket for Bangor with a good catch by James Patterson at mid-off. Bangor continued with their accurate bowling and Simmonite was unlucky not to pick up a wicket. The spin twins of James Patterson and Jamie Scates-Veale combined to tighten up the run rate and wickets fell at regular intervals. Scates-Veale tempted Templepatrick’s main threat, Ross Bryans, into a rash shot and Adam McCusker took a fantastic catch on the long off boundary. The combined overs of Patterson and Scates-Veale claimed 4 wickets for 28 runs and ensured the victory was beyond Templepatrick. Chris Pyper and Michael Skelly also bowled tightly and Bangor restricted Templepatrick to 95 for 5 in their 15 overs with Bangor securing the victory by 28 runs.
Overall, Bangor thoroughly deserved their victory. Their batting was positive and runs were able to flow following the solid start to the innings. Bangor’s young bowlers showed great maturity and the fielding was tight throughout the innings. Templepatrick found it very difficult to get on top of the run rate and, in the end, the result was never in doubt.
Bangor v Ballymena – 04.09.21
Bangor brought the curtain down on the 2021 season with a four defeat by four wickets to Ballymena at UprichardPark on Saturday. The defeat brings to an end a troubled season from which Bangor will be disappointed not to have take more. The experience will stand Adam McCusker’s men in good stead however, as they now look to 2022 and beyond.
Buoyed by a famous victory over Templepatrick on Friday night, Bangor won the toss and elected to bat on what looked to be another impressive Uprichard Park wicket. As it happened, the grey overhead conditions combined with early unevenness in the pitch meant that the start of the first innings was the most difficult time to bat on the surface. After ten overs, the pitch flattened out and became the batsman’s paradise to which we are accustomed. This came too late for both Michael Martin and Jonny Parker, the former driving one to cover and the latter being trapped in front of his stumps. Once more Bangor found themselves in a spot of bother having fallen to 24 for two after in only the seventh over.
Jonny Keenan and Adam McCusker began to rebuild the innings. Keenan was watchful, playing out the dangerous Michael Glass Senior and taking singles where he could. McCusker was ready to attack. He played shots all around the ground. The two contrasting styles complimented each other very well and the partnership reached 59 before McCusker was caught in the deep for 33. It was a fine knock and gave Bangor a basis on which to build for the remainder of the innings.
George Prince joined Keenan and continued the good work. Prince’s batting has been a revelation this year and he has relished a well-deserved move up the order. This paring looked in no trouble whatsoever, nudging the ball around and punishing the bad delivery. They took the score to the fabled Nelson, 111, before both were to lose their wicket. Prince went to a fine catch at slip, while Keenan, who had batted valiantly for 38, was bowled. Bangor now stood at 111 for five with still 17 overs to bat.
What followed was perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the day’s cricket from a Bangor perspective. On many occasions this year, the inexperience in our middle to lower order has led to the innings collapsing. This was far from the case on Saturday. Firstly, Adam Simmonite smashed three balls to the boundary before being caught behind. It was then left to Jamie Scates-Veale and Michael Skelly to progress the score and set a target that would mean Bangor would be competitive. They did this with such skill, readiness and dedication that it really was a joy to watch. Both batsmen scored at a run a ball, with the partnership reaching 42, bringing the score to 188. Josh Bates and Chris Pyper then partnered with Skelly until the end of the innings which ended with Bangor scoring 199. Without the work of Scates-Veale and Skelly it is likely that this score would have been much lower.
Ballymena have had their own problems with the bat this season, so Bangor would have been confident that this was a score that they would be able to defend. Bangor had been fine with the ball this season so it was important to get off to a good start. Unfortunately, a bit of misfortune and too many extras meant that Ballymena got an easy ride in the first half of their innings. Michael Glass and Peter Bristow batted sensibly and took the score past 100 before the latter was run out by some fine work from Jamie Scates-Veale in the 28thover. Bangor began to rally with two wickets for both Prince and Scates-Veale. Sadly it wasn’t to be and the fifth wicket partnership of John Glass and Michael Caithness took the score to 198, before the latter was dismissed by Simmonite. Only two balls later, Glass cleared the boundary and Ballymena were victors.
1XI Scorer Paddy Dixon Signs Off
The final league game of the season at Upritchard Park against Ballymena also marked the end of Paddy’s 5 seasons as 1XI scorer. It’s never boring at Bangor and Paddy can certainly attest to that seeing the team dramatically survive an effective relegation playoff match in the 2017 season against Cliftonville, to almost getting promoted in 2018 finishing in third place that year in Section One. Through the disappointments of the 2019 & 2021 seasons with the huge success of the 2020 season lifting the Robinson Services Bowl at Upritchard Park in between those two seasons, Paddy has truly had the full spectrum of emotions scoring for the 1XI!
As well as his on the field scoring commitments, Paddy was also responsible for his entertaining match reports which were sent on to The Spectator and put on to the club website. During his scoring duties Paddy is also best known for his humorous and full-length commentary service of the match via Facebook for other members of the club battling through various Samsung tech issues to keep members up-to-date on the 1XI.
Skipper Adam McCusker and the rest of the 1XI squad thank Paddy for his many years service as scorer, as the 12th man of the team and we look forward to seeing him at Upritchard Park watching on in the years to come.
