Armagh v Bangor @ The Mall 15/5/2010

Agonising defeat for brave Armagh

Armagh remained without a win in Division One Section One of the Ulster Bank Northern Cricket Union but only after they gave early league leaders a massive fright on The Mall and almost claimed a famous victory only to fall narrowly short by a mere eleven runs.

Armagh’s team was boosted by the return of David Bullick, Michael Villiers and Michael Hoey and when Bangor won the toss and elected to bat on a track left damp by Friday afternoons heavy rain Armagh were none too disappointed as they had intended to bowl first anyway. Mark Stinson made the first breakthrough when he tempted Hewitt into a mistimed pull straight to mid-wicket where Villiers took the catch. From here Bangor took a grip on the game with former Ireland international Mark Hutchinson looking in good touch aided by the unusual stroke-making technique and fast-running of Rushe. A dangerous partnership was broken by an inspired piece of captaincy as Whitcroft took a wicket with his very first delivery as Rushe picked out Bratten on the leg-side boundary who made no mistake with a big catch. David Bullick was causing any amount of problems with his clever medium pace bowling and picked up two wickets in quick succession when McKeown and Nixon both chipped catches at cover to Colin Russell. Whitcroft surprised McLarnon with a vicious bouncer that resulted in an easy catch for wicketkeeper Gareth McCarter. At this point Armagh were well on top and it took an assured partnership between Hutchinson and Adair to increase Bangor’s total towards the 150 mark. Bullick finished with a superb spell of two wickets for only twenty-five runs in his ten overs and he was replaced at the Courthouse End by precocious youngster Michael Hoey who yet again showed no nerves on the big stage with his disciplined line and length bowling. Harry Doyle returned for his second spell from the Pavilion End and picked up the reward his efforts deserved when he forced Hutchinson to edge through to McCarter for a well played 59. Whitcroft took a good high catch to remove Adair and give Doyle a second wicket before Hoey cleaned up the tail with three quick wickets courtesy of a Villiers boundary catch, a successful lbw appeal and a third well judged claim from Russell. Bangor were all out for 162, a decent effort from them and a splendid display from the home side who fielded and bowled tremendously well.

Nevertheless the 163 required to win was undoubtedly a steep ask and got harder immediately when Villiers cracked a low catch to cover that was superbly held. A second wicket was lost in controversial circumstances when Philip Doyle was adjudged to be out stumped. Armagh looked to recover as Dean Lester and Russell looked to rebuild with a steady partnership and both bedded in as well as playing good strokes. Lester fell to the spinner and was replaced by Harry Doyle who looked to support the senior player as Russell was increasingly dominating affairs. Armagh were rocked by a double blow as the fairly innocuous McKeown was able to pick up the wickets of Doyle then Bullick in consecutive deliveries. Bratten then added another stand with Russell who went to his half century with a commanding “six”. Another double blow was to lie in wait for the home team as Russell’s innings was ended cruelly by a top edged catch and then Bratten was done in by a fine delivery from Hewitt. Whitcroft was victim to an awful lbw call when he clearly hit the ball before Hoey was dismissed to a much clearer cut verdict. That left McCarter and Stinson at the wicket with plenty of runs still required but steadily they reduced the target with a mixture of patience and aggression as well as taking whatever extras were regularly on offer. Bangor were growing increasingly nervous as the target approached single figures but they were relived as Stinson attempted a big shot and was held on the edge of the circle by a stunning catch. Armagh felt short by an agonising 11 runs and Bangor’s wild celebrations suggested just how much they knew they had been in a tough match.

After the game, a clearly disappointed Armagh captain Gareth McCarter admitted that he felt his team had gone into the game with a game plan intending to disrupt Bangor and it had so nearly worked. “Our bowlers were superb and were backed up brilliantly in the field with the boys holding onto their catches throughout. I couldn’t single out any of the bowlers because they all did their job the way we wanted. Unfortunately with the bat we took a few poor decisions and got out to some poor shots and good catches. Bangor knew they were in a game today, but unfortunately we don’t get any points for that. Hopefully we can use the Carrick match next week to work on a few things then look towards some big league matches on the Mall.

Ulster Bank Division 1 Section 1

Armagh v Bangor, The Mall, Saturday 15th June 2010.

Bangor 162 all out. Hutchinson 59. M.Hoey 3-31, D.Bullick 2-25, H.Doyle 2-32.

Armagh 151 all out. C.Russell 53. J.Hewitt 3-27, J.McKeown 3-40.

Bangor won by 11 runs.

This weekend Armagh look to move on from their disappointing loss to Bangor with a tough away trip to Carrickfergus in the Challenge Cup. Armagh received a bye in the first round of the showpiece NCU Competition and will be tough pressed to get a result against a strong side featuring Irish internationals Paul Stirling and Ryan Eagleson as well as numerous hired overseas stars. The cup tie starts at Middle Road at 12 noon.