An Opening Day Defeat for the Men’s 1XI

Cricket has returned for the 2025 season. Bangor are back in section one and in fitting fashion the first competitive cricket of the year is played at the home of cricket itself, Upritchard Park. I’m spite of the damp overhead conditions, a game was never in doubt, as Barney’s team of groundwork gurus had the hallowed turf in stellar condition. 

Lurgan were to be the first opponents of the season and will have been disappointed, having headed to the Gold Coast expecting its typical sun kissed setting.

Bangor lost the toss and were inserted to bat in less than the usual favourable batting conditions at Upritchard Park. A delayed start meant the game was limited to 43 overs, but no amount of rain would stop our heroes from taking the field. Hutchinson and Keenan were the pair to begin the Bangor assault on section one. A formidable pairing with years of experience the sideline felt assured by the fact the two grizzled vets shouldered their hopes, on very latitudinous shoulders indeed. 

In a twisted act of pathetic fallacy, Keenan was removed for one run in the miserly conditions. The wicket fell in the third over as a faint edge from Keenan was snared by the opposing wicket keeper, leaving Bangor 11-1. 

Skipper Parker joined Hutchinson at the crease but fell victim to an in swinging delivery, Bangor now reeling at 17-2. As the early fall of wickets suggested, tricky conditions for batting. The batsmen were on the backfoot as Andrew Kirkpatrick joined Hutchinson at the crease. 

Kirkpatrick added the first Bangor boundary, as runs proved hard to come by. The ball nipped around, the outfield was damp and thus slow and Lurgan, to their credit, were taking full advantage with tight bowling that challenged the stumps. 

Kirkpatrick fell caught behind for 8 in unfortunate fashion shortly followed by overseas Conor Brown on debut, who was unlucky to come out on the wrong side of a tight LBW decision. A few overs later, after a stouthearted effort, Mark Hutchinson was removed for 21. Bangor were in dire straits at this point. Debutants Angus Farrell and Manav Chabra accelerated the innings at a time where Bangor’s backs were truly against the ropes. Between the two of them they added four boundaries through a collection of lusty blows. Farrell would be caught on the boundary attempting a trademark slog sweep. Young McNaught fell next, swiftly followed by Chhabra and the collapse was in full effect.

Pyper and Prince batted for a few overs longer, slowly increasing the total. The crowd gasped in awe as Pyper hit the shot of the day, a simultaneously graceful and powerful on drive which was unfortunate to find a fielder, but felt as good as any boundary hit all day. Ultimately, Prince feathered a short ball behind to the keeper concluding the Bangor innings at 105 all out. 

The Lurgan innings got off to a flier. Pyper seemed to have let the rapturous applause of his on drive to his head, as the Lurgan batsmen sought to attack early doors. The run flow was stunted by the tight bowling of Brown from the other end, causing all sorts of issues for the batsmen with the ball accurately moving both ways. The first wicket came through a mix up between the batsmen, where Johnny Parker putting in a skippers display in the field, fizzed the ball expertly to the willing hands of Kirkpatrick. Lurgan were 2-1, just the start the home side were after. 

Bangor toiled on and in the style of his countryman, Mitchell Starc, Brown delivered a devastating yorker, taking middle stump out of the ground in spectacular fashion. Lurgan were now 29-2 which brought their overseas Collingwood to the crease. Cricket is known to be a funny game, but surely it could not be this absurd, was a famous victory at hand? 

The overseas Collingwood alongside Chambers toiled away bringing Lurgan to 61-2. Club stalwart Zach Kerr has often been quoted saying “some men are born with greatness, some achieve it and some have it thrust upon them.” In the case of George Prince, all three may be applied. In the space of four runs he removed two Lurgan batsmen. The game was back on, punters sat up in their seats, players got a pep in their step, and the pavilion was filled with batsmen who did not want to go out and face the music, or rather the Bangor attack. 

From here on out the Lurgan batsmen were shaky. Chances were offered, but not taken however and the score continued to advance. Credit must be attributed to Collingwood, who batted with great maturity. Lurgan weathered the storm and came out the other side to win by 6 wickets, giving Bangor a loss in their first defeat of the season. 

Many may look at this with despair, presuming that Bangor are now in for a season of strife. However, if one harkens back to the first game of last season many parallels are evident. It was a low scoring loss, the opposing overseas batted admirably, and it was a damp day. A curious déjà vu indeed. The lessons is this, a loss is not defining and it need not be final, there is much to come from this team. Regardless, just being from Bangor and a part of this club, is all the victory one needs.