Carrickfergus V Armagh (22/05/10)

Carrickfergus v Armagh. Saturday 22nd May 2010

Armagh compete well but Carrick cruise to cup success.

Armagh put up a strong showing at Middle Road in the Challenge Cup 2nd Round tie but were eventually no match for their Premier League opponents who were able to make their class and top level experience show when the game was tight. Armagh should however be able to take plenty of encouragement from some of their efforts with bat and ball. Armagh’s team saw two changes from the previous week, with Stuart Lester and Matthew Steenson replacing the unavailable Andrew Bratten and the unfortunate Michael Villiers who was injured in practice. With a flat pitch and a baking hot day Armagh were naturally delighted when Gareth McCarter called correctly at the toss and chose to bat first with Dean Lester and Phil Doyle opening up. Both left handed batsmen showed great application against a quality and varied bowling attack but were not afraid to attack and punish anything loose and naturally runs came on the quick outfield. The pair brought up Armagh’s first half-century partnership of the 2010 season and were looking in fine touch when an unfortunate run-out accounted for Lester just before drinks, a shame as he hadn’t looked unduly troubled. The stand between the pair accounted for 69. This gave Carrick a breakthrough that they didn’t waste as Steenson quickly followed to a fine catch at slip. Russell and Doyle looked to rebuild and seemed to be doing so with minimal fuss when the latter became Armagh’s second player to be run-out by an inspirational direct hit from Elliott although Doyle will have been disappointed to not made his ground. However, Armagh will certainly be looking more of this kind of form from the talented batsman. Russell was caught on the boundary attempting a big shot off New Zealand spinner O’Shea leaving Armagh at 100-4 and in danger of wasting their good start. David Bullick knuckled down and took advantage of some wide bowling on offer to unleash his trademark cut stroke with great effectiveness taking five boundaries in a welcome return to form. He got assistance from Michael Hoey who struck a superb six, but was then bowled by Elliott just before the second drinks interval. It became a double blow as Bullick was well caught behind by wicketkeeper Stirling off the bowling of former Irish international Ryan Eagleson. Armagh’s tail did their best against the good bowling on show but no-one was able to reach double figures as wickets fell regularly to a combination of quality deliveries and poorly judged strokes. The final score saw Armagh dismissed for 153, a credible effort certainly but perhaps slightly disappointing given the great start afforded by the older of the Lester and Doyle brothers.

If Armagh were going to make any credible defence of their average total they would need to make a fine start and unfortunately that was not the case as Richard Stirling launched a blazing assault on the Armagh bowling. The unfortunate Harry Doyle suffered the most as 28 runs were blazed from his two overs; something that his form his season hasn’t deserved and hopefully a setback he can recover from. Alan Whitcroft was introduced to try and steady the ship and together he and Mark Stinson were able to control the flow of runs. Stirling was dismissed as early as the 8th over as he tried to smash a third consecutive boundary off Whitcroft but misread a slower ball and was caught by Russell at cover. Stinson then joined the party as he had New Zealand Under-19 international Taiaroa superbly caught behind down the legside by McCarter, before having Gilmour plumb lbw with a full and fast delivery. At 86 for 3 there may well have been a wobble for Carrick but unfortunately for Armagh Cowden and Turkington played reliable and controlled innings to see the home side home without further drama. Cowden finished with an unbeaten 54, an innings that would see him claim the NCU Challenge Cup Man of the Match award as Carrick sealed a seven wicket win.

Armagh captain Gareth McCarter had mixed emotions after the game. “Naturally we are disappointed to lose out, but I wouldn’t imagine that many would have backed us to win away to a Premier League side. What I asked of the boys today was for the batsmen to get a bit of time in the middle and for the bowlers to bowl well at good players. Our high spot certainly would be the new opening pair of Dean Lester and Phil Doyle, the two lads looked in great touch and hopefully they can build on that together. The Cliftonville match next Saturday is a big one; we really need to get off the mark in the league and get a tangible reward for our improved displays.”

This Saturday sees Armagh back on The Mall with an important fixture against Cliftonville that begins at 1pm. In other matches the 2nd XI start their Intermediate Cup campaign with a tough looking away fixture at Templepatrick.