Laurelvale V Armagh 9/08/08
Armagh boosted by Orchard derby victory
Armagh gave their survival hopes a timely boost and put a dent in those of Laurelvale when they scraped home in a closely contested match at the ‘Vale by a Duckworth/Lewis margin of 4 runs after rain had the final say.
If truth be told, it was a miracle that there was any play possible at all after a week of fairly consistent rain followed by another heavy shower on Saturday morning that had left an uncovered wicket drenched. To their huge credit, the Laurelvale players and staff worked tirelessly with sponges to ensure that the game could go ahead with only a delay of an hour, meaning the game was reduced to 47 overs per side. As conditions were still not ideal, Armagh invited Laurelvale to bat first after winning the toss.
This decision appeared to be a good one early on as Armagh’s tight bowling and fielding reduced Laurelvale to 22-2 with both their star performers dismissed, professional Ranjit Pande edging a beautiful delivery from Kulkarni through to the safe gloves of McCarter then Charles McCrum deceived by Alan Whitcroft into lobbing a catch for Michael Villiers. Laurelvale responded well though, with Wayne Pearson and Noel Nelson leading the recovery and largely content to block out the bowling of David Bullick who finished his ten overs conceding only twelve runs. The partnership grew steadily with Pearson in particular finding some good touch as Armagh used different bowlers in hope of a breakthrough. Nelson’s luck ran out when he clipped Bratten to Harry Boyd and mid-off but Pearson reached his half century when he struck a boundary off Boyd’s first delivery. Undeterred, the teenage spinner found his line and length and shocked the Vale when he clean bowled Pearson for 52, and overs later did the same to Sinton. In the meantime, Bratten had removed Topping courtesy of a Kulkarni catch at slip. Laurelvale’s innings was in danger of falling away, but some useful hitting from Magennis supported by Philip Weir got them going again before Whitcroft dismissed both in consecutive deliveries courtesy of catches from Gareths McCarter and Robinson respectively. Stewart was run out by Russell at cover and after their 47 overs; Laurelvale finished on a competitive 151-9.
Armagh were confident that a sensible approach in improving conditions would hopefully lead to a successful result but were aware that it wouldn’t be easy. Michael Villiers smashed a delightful early boundary off Pande but was dismissed soon after trying to repeat the act. Gareth Robinson and Colin Russell looked to rebuild, mixing solid defence with some good shots. Russell was looking confident with some crisp shots going to the boundary or being well fielded, and that frustration might have led to his demise when he drove a McCrum delivery straight to Burns who completed the catch. This brought Charu Kulkarni to the crease and the Armagh professional immediately looked comfortable with the task in hand. Unfortunately Robinson was dismissed in exactly the same fashion as Russell but had contributed well to Armagh’s steady start. Lloyd Hamilton helped Kulkarni build further but was unluckily dismissed when he edged an excellent quicker ball from Magennis and was caught behind by Topping using various parts of his body. David Bullick then entered the action with the score on 60 and usefully rotated the strike with Kulkarni as the target got ever nearer. However, the real drama began when the clouds closed in and rain appeared imminent, both teams started to look towards the Duckworth/Lewis calculation and found that Armagh were narrowly short of the par score. However, one over from Charles McCrum made all the difference as Kulkarni was able to swing the ball to the boundary in successive deliveries and put Armagh ahead as the started to fall. As the drops grew larger, it worked out that Armagh didn’t lose a wicket in the 35th over then they would still be ahead. Pearson tried all of his tricks but Bullick was immovable and with the rain becoming steady and heavy, umpires McNally and Blakely suspended play with Armagh ahead of the Duckworth/Lewis par score by 4 runs. The rain got steadily heavier and with no chance of play resuming Armagh sealed a narrow but precious victory.
Naturally Andrew Bratten was delighted to mark his return to the team with a crucial win, and paid tribute to the efforts of his side. “We bowled and fielded pretty well, kept things tight and held all the catches when they came along. Wayne Pearson batted well but Harry got the better of him and we managed to keep a lid on the rest of them. Batting wise the lads got themselves out to a degree but Charu (Kulkarni) didn’t look troubled and we were always confident when he was in the middle. David Bullick gave him great steady support and we timed the late charge pretty perfectly. In all it’s a great result and one that can maybe make things happen for us through August. Saying that, we still need at least one win from the games against Lurgan and Muckamore next weekend.
Scorecard can be found here!
Armagh’s victory against Laurelvale has suggested that there could be some life in the city side yet in their attempt to avoid relegation to Section Three, but it will still take a tremendous effort from the side to get out of the dreaded drop zone. The next two fixtures see Armagh travel to Lurgan this Saturday then host Muckamore on Sunday in a rearranged fixture. “Realistically these are two tough games” admitted captain Andrew Bratten, “but we gave Lurgan a close game earlier in the year and beat Muckamore on their own patch so should go ahead with nothing to fear” Saturdays game at Pollock Park starts at 12.00 noon and Sundays match on the Mall starts at 1pm. | 
