Larne Cricket Club, sponsored by the Curran Court Hotel, once again has five Senior teams competing in the NCU League.  The Fourth eleven is playing in Division 3 Section 2.  This is the same league as the Third eleven and will prove to be a challenge for the young and relatively inexperienced side.

Last Saturday, in their season opener, they entertained newly promoted Lurgan III’s at the Rugby Club.   Fourth eleven captain, Esler Burke, had been drafted in to play for the Thirds so stand-in captain, John Hood on winning the toss, elected to bat.  Club stalwart, Michael Waterman, opened the batting along with Dean McDonagh.  Both looked in reasonable touch dispatching two fours across the lightening outfield to the boundary in the first two overs.  Waterman soon fell however when he mistimed his stroke to a ball that was there to be hit, being bowled for just 4. 

McDonagh and number 3, Ryan Glenholmes soon followed leaving the home side in trouble on 18 for 3 after 5 overs.  John Hood and David McVeigh set about steadying the Larne innings and patiently trying to build up a reasonable score.  McVeigh in particular looked very self-assured and his batting technique is a joy to watch.  Hood is less than orthodox but when he hits the ball can be effective smashing four boundaries on his way to 21.  In the 15th over his luck ran out when he top edged the ball to wide mid-on and was caught with the score on 52.  This brought Stephen Brennan to the crease. 

The Larne schoolmaster has not played competitive cricket for over two years but you would not have guessed that by the way in which he set about the task in hand.  These two put on a partnership of 41 runs before McVeigh was out for a very gutsy 26 being bowled by in the 31st over.  Paul Williamson; Joanne McKinley; Richard Hood; David Hayes and Stephen Dick all tried to stay with Brennan however, in the final over he was left stranded on 45 not out with the Larne innings coming to an end on 138 after the allotted 40 overs had been bowled.

Following the tea interval Lurgan began chasing down a total that the home team knew was somewhat short of what would be needed.  Opening bowlers Ryan Glenholmes and Joanne McKinley tried hard and bowled a good line and length but were thwarted by aggressive batting from the visitors who seemed keen to finish the job as quickly as possible.  McKinley got some consolation when, in the 8th over, she removed one of the Lurgan openers for 22. 

Unfortunately the Lurgan number three was a very powerful batsman and, some 10 overs later having lost three balls in the dense undergrowth, the match was nearly over.  Paul Williamson and Richard Hood were the first change bowlers but there was little that could be done to stop the flow of runs.  In the 20th over, with a fitting boundary 6, the match was over, the home team having lost by 9 wickets.  It may well prove to be a difficult season for the Fourths playing at this level, hopefully it will be a steep but productive learning curve that will benefit the Club in future years.

RESULT – Larne IV’s lost to Lurgan III’s by 9 wickets.