Armagh v Dundrum
Armagh rounded off their 2008 campaign in disappointing fashion as Dundrum had a convincing win on the Mall, although not enough to save them from the second relegation in the final reckoning. Of course Armagh’s fate of relegation had already been determined in the previous weekend after the city side had endured a difficult season from pretty much start to finish.
Despite that, the team were determined to bow out of Section Two on a successful note and captain Andrew Bratten decided to bowl after winning the toss hoping to make the most of a drying wicket with some swing sure to be available. The home captain got his team off to a fine start when he trapped McNerlin lbw in the first over then was sure that he had Tormey caught behind by McCarter but bizarrely the umpire refused to give the decision and the batsman stood his ground. This only served to fire up Armagh though and both Tormeys were removed in quick succession, clean bowled by Bratten and Bullick respectively. Dundrum captain Rodney Hassard, who refused Armagh a substitute fielder earlier in the season in the return fixture was undone by a lack of patience being bowled by the swing of Colin Russell and when Noel Maguire was caught at cover off Mark Stinson, Dundrum were perilously placed at 41-5. Unfortunately for Armagh the next couple of Dundrum batsman knuckled down and played resoulutely as the situation dictated. Connor and Maguire were also willing to bring out a few big strokes if necessary and it took a quite spectacular catch from Russell in the covers to remove the former. Martin then joined Maguire in another useful stand in the closing overs as the score grew steadily, but both fell trying to use their feet and being swiftly stumped by Gareth McCarter, Michael Villiers getting Martin while Matthew Steenson accounted for Maguire who played well for his 31. Each of those bowlers shared another wicket a piece as Dundrum scrambled to 140 all out in 40.3 overs.
Armagh needed a solid start in what was always likely to be a difficult chase and got it with Villiers and Steenson both looking strong but that solid start was blown away by the loss of three wickets with the score on 19, both openers and the promoted Mark Stinson being dismissed. This meant that David Bullick and Colin Russell had to rebuild and they did a steady job in tough conditions with the light fading. The score had crossed 50 with light rain falling when Russell was adjudged lbw to Connor, a disgraceful decision given that the Armagh batsman clearly hit the ball but the decision was given regardless. With the rain getting heavier the players came off and the resulting Duckworth/Lewis calculation was harsh on Armagh with 7 overs being lost but only 8 less runs required. Mark Elliott and Andrew Bratten came and went quickly before being deceived by the spin of Joel Maguire before Bullick and Gareth McCarter put together a meaningful partnership. After the D/L calculation Dundrum reckoned that they needed to dismiss Armagh for less than 87 to move out of the relegation spot but the home side were in no mood to roll over and despite more wickets falling, Ryan McCarter and Adam Breakey took Armagh beyond that mark at least. That was only denying the inevitable however and when the last wicket fell on 92 it meant both teams left the field being relegated from Division 1 Section 2, albeit with different margins.
After the game, Andrew Bratten admitted that Armagh were desperately disappointed to have lost the game after such a good start. “We probably allowed them 50 more runs than they should have got after being forty-off for five, but their middle order batted well and hung about like ours hasn’t done most of the year which made a big difference.” Bratten was also unrepentant about his teams determination in getting every run possible in the unlikely chase even though it meant that Dundrum ended up being relegated as a result. “Cricketers have long memories I guess, and Dundrum’s actions in the earlier game at the Meadow stuck in a few people’s memories. To be honest I would like to have beaten them but at least we gave our all until the end. If we show that sort of attitude next season we will hopefully do ok.
Scorecard can be found here! | 
