Academy V Armagh 8/08/09

Armagh topple Academy in thrilling encounter

A depleted Armagh recovered from a poor start to post a competitive total and then defend it with a stirring effort in the field to remain clear at the top of the Ulster Bank Division One Section Two table and record an impressive tenth successive league victory.

After the disappointment of the previous weekend’s abandoned fixture against Donacloney, Armagh had to make a number of changes to make up for several players who were unavailable including Michael Villiers, Mark Stinson and David Bullick. Stuart Lester was able to return from injury though and the Hoey brothers made their senior debuts for Armagh. Academy won the toss and elected to bowl, sensing that the pitch might be able to provide them with some level of assistance. Their assumption seemed an accurate one as Armagh struggled to score early on against disciplined bowling and as a result wickets fell at regular intervals with Thompson the lead destroyer taking the first four to fall, with Matthew Steenson caught behind, Colin Russell caught at slip and the two Doyle brothers both giving catches leaving Armagh 36-4. Andrew Bratten did his best to try and rebuild together with Kulkarni but could only play on to Greenlees to depart for 6. Lester went the very next ball and when Michael Hoey was lbw to the same bowler Armagh looked in terrible trouble at 68-7. However, Kulkarni was to find a willing ally in vice-captain and wicketkeeper Gareth McCarter who was happy to defend doggedly and let Charu do the majority of the scoring, which he did with an array of fine attacking strokes as he brought up a fine half century as Armagh passed the hundred mark and beyond. McCarter brought up the pairs 50 partnership with an on-drive and the city side entered the final ten overs hoping to post a competitive target. Unfortunately Kulkarni lost his calm and his wicket as he tried to smash a change spinner out of the attack and a fine catch was held, but a great innings of 66 had given his side a chance at least. After Reg Stinson was bowled by a great ball, McCarter and young Andrew Hoey added a vital and entertaining 33 runs for the last wicket, runs that would prove crucial in the final reckoning. Despite being a mere 12 years of age, young Hoey was not at all overawed by senior bowling and assisted his senior partner well before being caught on the boundary for a brave 11. That left McCarter unbeaten on 30, his highest score for Armagh 1st XI and gave a final total of 161 that had looked extremely unlikely earlier in the proceedings.

Armagh would still need early wickets to put pressure on Academy and although they weren’t forthcoming; runs were at a premium too with Reg Stinson and Kulkarni proving hard to get away. The Armagh “pro” got the breakthrough when he had Harte plumb leg before wicket for 6. The Academy skipper Shields and the experienced Kelso tried to rebuild steadily but found things difficult with Harry Doyle in particular bowling a fine spell of left arm medium pace with no width to get away. After his spell, Kulkarni took a gamble by introducing the leg spin of Andrew Hoey and it paid instant dividends with a turning delivery being nicked through for McCarter to hold a terrific catch wide of the crease. Stuart Lester was also proving hard to get away and Shields aimed through leg one time too often and was smartly caught by Harry Doyle. David Greenlees tried to cut loose in his time honoured style and succeeded with three boundary slaps but was outwitted by Lester and could only direct a fast short ball to Andy Bratten at point. Sensing weakness, Kulkarni brought himself back on for a great three over burst that yielded the wickets of Wix and Bryan with the Armagh captain proving a step up in class with his pace and accuracy. Lester claimed his third wicket in his final over with Magee edged behind giving McCarter a second catch and giving Lester deserved reward for tidy bowling. Andrew Bratten was the next to strike when Kulkarni held a good catch in the outfield from a lofted drive and Reg Stinson repeated the trick in the same over when Bratten induced a flying edge that was well held at third man to spark wild celebrations. Another wicket was needed though and it was only fitting that Harry Doyle was the player to take it after his best bowling of the season with Stinson again safely claiming the catch. In the end Armagh had 28 runs to spare, an outcome that hardly seemed likely earlier in the afternoon.

Armagh captain Charu Kulkarni was delighted with the way his team had fought out of a tough position and claimed what could turn out to be a crucial win in the race for promotion. “Our batsmen failed today but we managed to get a good score on the board as Gareth and I managed to get a partnership going and then Andrew Hoey did very well at the end. However, our bowling and fielding made up for the weaknesses with the bat, it was a fine effort and credit to Stuart Lester and Harry Doyle for bowling great spells.”

Academy v Armagh

8 August 2009

Newforge

NCU Section 3

Result: Armagh win by 28 runs

Points:  Academy 0 Armagh 4

Toss:    Academy

Umpires: T Deegan, A Maginness

Scorers: WB Weir, J Quinn

ARMAGH

C Russell             c Kelso b Thompson    8  

M Steenson       c Shields *+ b Thompson    3  

P Doyle                 c Wix b Thompson    9  

CP Kulkarni *           c Spence b Harte   66  

H Doyle               c Kelso b Thompson    2  

A Bratten                    b Greenlees    6  

S Lester                     b Greenlees    0  

M Hoey                     lbw Greenlees    1                                         

G McCarter +                     not out   30                                         

R Stinson                       b Spence    3                                         

A Hoey                  c Thompson b Wix   11                                         

  Extras     (b 0, lb 0, nb 0, w 22, p )   22

  Total            (all out, 47.1 overs)  161

FOW: 1-13 (M Steenson) 2-14 (C Russell) 3-29 (P Doyle) 4-36 (H Doyle) 5-58 (A Bratten) 6-58 (S Lester) 7-68 (M Hoey) 8-122 (CP Kulkarni *) 9-128 (R Stinson) 10-161 (A Hoey)

L Thompson           10    3    20    4

J Irons              10    4    22    0

B Boyd               10    1    47    0

D Greenlees          10    1    33    3

M Harte               4    0    23    1

D Spence              2    0    11    1

J Wix               1.1    0     5    1

ACADEMY

M Shields *+          c H Doyle b Lester   42  

M Harte                   lbw Kulkarni *    6  

B Kelso            c McCarter + b A Hoey   21  

A Magee            c McCarter + b Lester   10  

D Greenlees           c Bratten b Lester   18  

J Wix                       b Kulkarni *    8  

A Bryan                   lbw Kulkarni *    0                                         

D Spence          c Kulkarni * b Bratten    3                                         

J Irons              c Stinson b Bratten   14                                         

L Thompson                       not out    0                                         

B Boyd               c Stinson b H Doyle    1                                         

  Extras      (b 0, lb 3, nb 1, w 6, p )   10

  Total            (all out, 45.3 overs)  133

FOW: 1-26 (M Harte) 2-73 (B Kelso) 3-77 (M Shields *+) 4-98 (D Greenlees) 5-109 (J Wix) 6-112 (A Bryan) 7-114 (A Magee) 8-130 (D Spence) 9-132 (J Irons) 10-133 (B Boyd)

R Stinson            10    2    22    0

CP Kulkarni *        10    2    26    3

H Doyle             9.3    1    21    1

S Lester             10    1    34    3

A Hoey                3    0    12    1

A Bratten             3    0    15    2

This week ahead Armagh have the mouth-watering prospect of their 150th Anniversary fixture against the KUKRI Ulster All-Stars select on Wednesday afternoon to look forward to. An Armagh select side picked by club President George Breakey and club captain Charudatta Kulkarni will face a tough test with a lot of the Ulster select having experience of senior cricket at the highest level. Local man and Ulster team physio Gareth “Gigi” Robinson will be the captain of the KUKRI Ulster All-Stars and will be able to boast names like David Humphreys, Ian Whitten, Neil Doak and Isaac Boss amongst their players for the day. There will also be guest appearances on either side by Ireland international stars Kyle McCallan and Andrew White of Waringstown and Senior cup finalists Instonians respectively. With the Armagh Cricket Club 150th Anniversary committee supporting the Wooden Spoon charity, it is anticipated that Ireland Grand-Slam legend and patron of the charity Sir Jack Kyle will make an appearance at the match for a part of the afternoon. Guest speaker for the evenings gala dinner and National selector for the England team Geoff Miller will also be at the Mall to take in what should be an enthralling afternoon’s entertainment. The match starts at 2pm.

The weekend sees Armagh with a free Saturday date, but on Sunday the side are due to travel to Drumaness for a rearranged fixture from the middle of June. With six league games remaining, Armagh just have to keep winning to keep clear at the top of the table and captain Charu Kulkarni will be hoping for a repeat of Armagh’s ten wicket win against the same opponents earlier in the season.

Friday night also sees the first match for the Armagh Ladies team as they take on the visitors from Waringstown. The ladies have been training steadily on Monday nights throught the summer and will hope to get off to a flying start in their first match. All start will be welcome and the game is scheduled to begin at 6:30pm.