Larne Firsts, who are sponsored by the Curran Court Hotel, got their season kick started at the weekend with a 4 wicket win against local rivals Templepatrick at the Cloughan.

Skipper Trevor Dempsey called correctly at the toss and elected to put the hosts in to bat on a wicket which looked sure to assist the bowlers. Things didn’t go according to plan as openers Colin Morrow and Keith Wilson put on 85 for the 1st wicket. Morrow was the aggressor and punished any loose deliveries and he brought up his 50 with just 57 on the board. Jonathon King and Paul Ramsay bowled with great control and accuracy but neither could make the breakthrough as both batsmen rode their luck. This eventually came from Eddie Hunter when he had Morrow caught behind by Dempsey for 67, good reward for an aggressive 10 over spell.

Larne then introduced the spinners Gareth Gaw and Johnny Baxter and Gaw soon struck when Wilson holed out to King for a patient 24. Gaw picked up another wicket and Baxter got 1 thanks to fine catches in the deep by Hunter and safe hands Chris Keenan. Templepatrick skipper Artie Campbell built on his sides good start with an excellent 51 not out. He got off the mark with a 6 and 2 more followed as he guided his side to 201 in their 50 overs. He got good support from Robert Smith who scored 21 but Larne finished off strongly as Jonathan and Andy King grabbed 2 wickets each.

The home side would have been confident of defending their total as Larne have been struggling with the bat this season but things began positively when Gareth Alexander cracked the 1st ball of the innings for 4 and followed it up with another boundary as 11 were taken off the 1st over. Over confidence got the better of him when he holed out at cover off the bowling of James Jackson and when Graeme Leitch and Dempsey departed Larne were stuttering on 57-3. Other opener Baxter was playing nicely and hit some glorious boundaries but was very unlucky to top edge a full toss and be caught for 23.

When Andy King was out straight after drinks Larne were under pressure at 95-5 but this pressure was eased as the left handers Keenan and Ian Hill guided them to the brink of victory. Both scored chanceless half centuries as Larne cruised to victory with 3 overs to spare. They batted very cleverly and never allowed the bowlers to get on top as they took plenty of singles and dispatched anything loose for 4. Keenan got out for 58 with victory in sight and it was left to Hill to score the winning runs as he finished unbeaten on 57 off just 52 balls.