Larne Firsts, who are sponsored by the Curran Court Hotel, maintained their good form at the weekend with a comfortable 6 wicket win away in Drumaness. The win was set up by a fine bowling display as the home side were dismissed for just 88, the star of the show being Jonathan King who returned figures of 6-15 off his 10 overs.

On a pitch which was remarkably dry given the recent weather the Larne stand-in skipper Johnny Baxter called incorrectly at the toss and the home side elected to bat first. King immediately had the batsmen in trouble and was rewarded in the 1st over when Simon King took a spectacular full length one handed catch behind the wicket. This was quickly followed up by a more straightforward catch as King found the edge of the dangerous Mills. Walsh then tried to counter attack and hit some quick boundaries but Larne remained patient and King had him caught at square leg by Gareth Gaw.

At the other end Eddie Hunter was also bowling an excellent spell without getting any luck but he did grab 1 wicket as Drumaness were reduced to 33-4. Dean Hodge and Gareth Gaw were then introduced to the attack and continued the good work as they kept the pressure on the batsmen. Gaw in particular gave nothing away and only conceded 11 runs in 8 overs, picking up 1 wicket thanks to a catch on the boundary by Andy King. Hodge also got 1 wicket as Drumaness skipper McCoubrey skied one and Gareth Alexander took an excellent running catch in the deep.

With these breakthroughs, Baxter decided to bring back King for his final 3 overs and he didn’t disappoint when he immediately bowled the No 3 batsman Deegan who hit a fine 33. He soon picked up his 5th and 6th wickets to cap a fine performance and Andy King wrapped up the innings with the last wicket as Drumaness were dismissed for 88. Larne’s efforts in the field were excellent, all catches were taken and several boundaries were saved, and the side were well marshalled by Baxter who was captain for the 1st time.

To avoid taking any chances with the weather Larne openers Alexander and Baxter set about the chase in positive fashion and the ball was soon flying to the boundary from both players. Baxter was 1st to go when a miss-hit pull shot gave Mills the 1st of his 4 wickets as Simon King and Chris Keenan were both trapped LBW. Alexander was timing the ball nicely but a good ball saw him edge behind for 20.

No more alarms followed however as Ian Hill and Graeme Leitch saw their side home with just 18 overs bowled. Hill is in great form and hit a succession of boundaries while Leitch also cracked 3 4s in 1 over to finish 16 not out. Hill finished the match in spectacular form with a huge straight 6 to finish unbeaten on 32.

This weekend sees Larne on the road again as they travel to Dungannon hoping to maintain their good form.