Cup final overshadowed by abandoned cricket game 
 
The sensible option may have been to stay at home and watch the supposedly glamorous FA Cup final, but there can be little doubt that those intrepid souls who decided to play in this cricket match had a much more memorable day that the couch bound football fans.  There were several phone calls in the early morning to check the status of the weather, but eventually an extremely strong Larne side set off for the dreaded DUB ground in Belfast.  Larne's last visit here had saw them slip to a heavy and rather stinky defeat as the toilets overflowed and tempers flared in the visiting side.  All highly dramatic, but memorable drama like that was not likely to occur again.
 
"There is a lot of batting in that car" said one seasoned observer as Chris Keenan, Andy King, Steven Morton and Stuart McIlwaine drove away together.  There were the usual several near misses as that same observer helped ferry the young Larne side through Belfast.  Derriaghy were ready and waiting when the visiting team eventually arrived,  won the toss and elected to field.  The match was reduced to 30 overs in an ultimately vain attempt to beat the heavy rain that was clearly imminent.  The aforementioned four young batsmen formed the Larne top order, but after ten overs Larne had lost two wickets in making 30 runs.

 
At this stage came the first of several bizarre interludes in proceedings.  A small dog, having travelled all the way from Larne, broke free of his owner and raced onto the field of play.  Having attracted everyone's attention with some jaunty running and skipping around, "Scooter" then proceeded to perform a highly un-expected Paula Radcliffe on the edge of the wicket. Larne's batsmen and the home fielders both appeared equally disgusted at this turn of events, while the Larne captain seemed less than impressed as he first removed the dog and then its vile deposit from the field of play.
 
The game began afresh with Keenan and McIlwaine both looking comfortable, before a fantastic catch saw the left hander dismissed for 18.  McIlwaine soon followed as the visitors attempted to increase the scoring rate.  Larne slipped to 55 for 4 from seventeen overs, but a promising partnership of 25 from Ken and Derek McKinley set them up a frenetic last eight overs.  The brothers batted together for the first time in over twenty years, with Derek hitting one fine six over mid-wicket.  The damp conditions though caused an unfortunate injury to the younger brother as he slipped on the greasy artificial wicket.
 
The wind was so strong that verbal communication over any distance was almost impossible.  Derek thus had to try and request a runner by making a series of animated gestures at his groin, prompting much confusion among the spectators.  Eventually the penney dropped and Morton emerged to act as runner.  Larne were on target for a very competitive score, despite the fact that it was very difficult to pierce the home side's field.  Time and time again good shots failed to reach the boundary, and for a while it seemed as Derriaghy had a fielder in every position.
 
With the game taking shape nicely "Scooter" then inexplicably broke free from his owner for a second time, before bafflingly expressing his contempt for proceedings by again defecating on the wicket.  This sickening act once more required removal by Larne's captain, dog warden and shit cleaner-upper Lyle.  Sadly though Larne's supply of plastic bags had been exhausted by the relentless tide of canine poo.  Dog turd number two thus took up a permanent position at silly mid on/silly point and once again the game attempted to proceed.
 
Disappointingly the weather finally broke at this moment, and a huge shower began to soak the entire area.  As the players were leaving the field it became apparent that at that moment Derriaghy had in fact twelve fielders!  Somehow a late young fielder had arrived and sneaked on, with only the alert runner Morton noticing that they had an extra fielder.  No one was sure when he had arrived or how many balls he had been on for, but the heavy and prolonged rain meant that it was fairly irrelevant as the match was hastily abandoned. It will be replayed on July 1st, and tickets are on sale now for what is always an entertaining encounter.

The match was kindly sponsored by the Curran Court.