On Saturday 12th May, Larne Second XI, sponsored by The Curran Court, defeated Dunmurry by 5 wickets.

Larne’s skipper won the toss and with the pitch still drying out from the heavy overnight rain, decided to ask the opposition to bat first.

Cameron Rhuys and Ken McKinley opened the bowling and soon discovered the pitch offered no margin for error but that an accurate line and length would make scoring difficult. Rhuys bowled beautifully to concede only 6 runs in his 5 over spell while McKinley dismissed the dangerous Dunmurry skipper in his last over. Chris Erdis and Rab McClean took up the attack, with McClean taking the second wicket of the day in a pacey 5 over burst. Erdis started well but the left hand / right hand combination caused him some problems with his line and the skipper turned to Michael Lyle and Darren Stanton to try to regain control.

Lyle quickly took the third Dunmurry  wicket and scoring became very difficult as both bowlers eliminated errant deliveries and forced the batsmen on the defensive. After several low scoring overs the pressure eventually told but even Larne were not expecting the breakthrough to be so dramatic. Stanton struck with the last ball of his seventh over which was followed by Lyle’s second wicket from the opposite end. Higginson then stumped the next batsmen off the first delivery of Stanton’s eighth over to offer the possibility of a second Larne hat-trick in two weeks. Stanton didn’t disappoint with Rab McClean juggling but eventually holding onto the catch.

Dunmurry had slumped to 95 for seven and Lyle and Stanton quickly removed the last 3 wickets to leave a target of 106 for victory. Stanton finished with an excellent 5 for 20 with Lyle claiming 3 for 23.
 
Larne are searching for an opening partnership with the bat and for the next few games Rab Mclean and John Higginson will be given an opportunity to establish themselves. Some very loose bowling meant that both players could ease themselves into their innings and a stand of 37 went a long way towards deciding the game for Larne, before McClean dragged a ball onto his stumps to bring Alan McKee to the crease.

McKee immediately looked in good form and looks ready to have another big season. Higginson was bowled, having reached 17 but was also starting to show encouraging signs of good form. Kenny McKinley and Gary Moore then shared brief partnerships with McKee before playing shots they will want to forget before Cameron Rhuys and McKee finished off the match for Larne. McKee was dismissed for an excellent 34 while Rhuys was undefeated while compiling a classy 13.