On the day that saw the final dramatic twists of the Premier League session Bangor III’s travelled to Carrickfergus to play out their own mini drama against Carrickfergus IV’s in the Lindsay Cup. Carrickfergus won the toss and elected to bat in this 30 over encounter.
The match started off on a fairly even keel with Carrickfergus averaging just below 5 an over but losing two wickets, to an impressively accurate Conor Cox (full figures 6-2-15-2), whilst demonstrating that short pitched deliveries would be met with hefty blows.
After 8 overs with the score at 37 for 2 Andy Hare (6-0-30-3) and Iain Chapman (6-0-29-2) came on as first change bowlers with an almost immediate impact as Iain’s first delivery was edged through a vacant slip area. The match then swung in Bangor’s favour when Andy Hare took 5 wickets in the fifteenth over, followed by another wicket to Iain in the sixteenth leaving Carrick of 65 for 7 after 16 overs.
Carrick captain George Armstrong, who had borne witness at the crease to this mid innings slump then came out on the attack seeing partners quickly diminishing. Over the course of the next 14 overs he, with the aide 20 runs from the other batsmen, put on a further 94 runs to bring Carrick to a score of 159 for 9 off their allotted overs with George managing the strike well. Morgan Paulin, making his senior debut for the club, bowled 3 overs for 24 in this period and showed that he’ll be one for the future as he gets more opportunities to pit his wits against more seasoned campaigners that he’ll have experienced to date.
Bangor got off to a flying start thanks to Iain Chapman (45 runs) with the 50 coming up in just 6 overs as he attacked and saw off the opening bowlers. Iain and fellow opener Paul Houstoun (28 runs) had both fallen by the eleventh over but had set a platform with the score at 81 for 2. Bangor kept ahead of the required run rate with runs coming at a steady state but just when the victory seemed within grasp (20 runs required off 6 overs) Carrick’s captain George Armstrong (6-0-3-20) came up with a hat trick to leave Bangor 8 wickets down and more than a bit nervous. Adam Purce (15 not out), again on senior debut and having had a fine performance as wicket keeper, held his nerves, hit his first six in senior cricket, and together with Conor Cox saw Bangor over the line in the twenty ninth over to a 2 wicket victory.
Bangor will meet Instonians III’s in the next round of the cup
