Carrick boost survival chances
Carrickfergus took a huge step towards Premier League survival on Saturday when they secured 4 invaluable points after a 39 run victory over fellow strugglers Lisburn at Middle Road, in a match kindly sponsored by McLean’s Bookmakers.
The visitors won the toss and asked Carrick to bat first, and openers Michael Gilmour and Iain Parkhill took 31 runs off the first 8 overs, before Parkhill was caught behind. Calum Atkinson was then introduced into the Lisburn attack, and with his first ball he bowled Gordon Browne. He then trapped Jamie Holmes lbw first ball, and completed his hat-trick by bowling Indrajeet Kamtekar with his third delivery. Worse was to follow as Atkinson had Gilmour lbw for 23 from the first ball of his second over to leave Carrick in disarray at 36 for 5. Ryan Eagleson and Jon Ring then set about the rebuilding process and steadied things for Carrick when they added 42 runs in 16 overs, before Eagleson was caught behind off Brown in the 29th over, with the score on 78. Alex Haggan then joined Ring at the wicket and played the innings that was to turn the match decisively in Carrick’s favour. He scored a superb 62 runs off the same number of deliveries with seven fours and two sixes, adding 93 for the 7th wicket with Ring, and when he was caught in the deep Carrick had progressed to 171 with four overs still remaining. Jon Ring who had been content to play a supporting role completed a fine fifty and then went on the attack himself before he was run out for 72 in the final over, a real determined effort that had started with Carrick in big trouble and ended with them past the 200 mark. Ashwin Shetty hit a huge six off the final delivery of the innings to give Carrick a very respectable total of 218 for 9 at the end of their 50 overs.
After losing an early wicket, Lisburn made steady progress with skipper Simpson and Rankin seeing the fifty up in the 16th over. Rankin was then run out by Iain Parkhill, and Berry and Simpson continued to score steadily with the hundred coming up in the 26th over. Ryan Eagleson got his second wicket when he bowled Simpson in the 30th over with the score on 112. With Carrick’s seamers struggling, Parkhill introduced himself into the attack for a rare bowl. He picked up three wickets in as many overs to reduce Lisburn to 126 for 6 and by now looking for 90 runs off only 13 remaining overs. While South African professional Darryl Brown was still there, the visitors were still in the game, and a further 40 runs were added in 8 overs before the Carrick captain got him to chop one on to his stumps and the game was as good as over. The remaining three wickets fell to Indrajeet Kamtekar as the visitors were all out in the 48th over for 179 to give Carrick a vital win.
It was a very successful weekend for Carrick with all 4 teams winning their matches.
The 2nd XI who are chasing promotion from Junior League 2 had a comfortable 88 run win over Academy II at Middle Road on Sunday. The match followed the pattern of the 1st XI match the previous day with Carrick struggling along to 36 for 4 after 10 overs. Of the early batmen only Samuel Osborne with 32 made a significant contribution, and when he was dismissed in the 17th over they were in some trouble at 70 for 6. However 14 year old Max Burton then came to the rescue with a superb innings for his side. He hammered an unbeaten 73 runs with good support coming for Bradley Luney and Russell Stockman who both made 26. This enabled Carrick to post a very competitive 212 for 7 at the end of their 40 overs. In reply Academy lost wickets on a regular basis, with Alastair and Jack Burton picking up two wickets each, but at 104 for 6 after 28 overs they still had a slight chance. Russell Stockman ended that when he took the second hat-trick of the weekend at Middle Road, and the visitors were eventually all out for 124 in the 33rd over.
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Meanwhile Carrick’s 3rd XI ensured their promotion from Junior League 6 with a routine 5-wicket victory over Cregagh III. Cregagh batted first and only managed to score 103 runs in their 30 overs, with James McMahon-Beattie taking 3 wickets, and Adam Crook and Jack Buchanan-Rolleston picking up a couple each. After a 35 run opening stand between Robert Peszel and John Kane, Carrick slumped to 46 for 4. However Philip Ritchie who top scored with 31 and skipper Tommie Humphries took them to within two runs of their target, and they got home in the 18th over for the loss of 5 wickets.
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The 4th XI made it a full set of wins for Carrick at the weekend when they defeated Donaghcloney III by 57 runs at Beltoy Road. Carrick batted first and scored a solid 160 in their 30 overs, with Kyle Hutton and Stewart McCormack both making 33, skipper Glen Graham 22, and Michel Brady an unbeaten 21. Donaghcloney in reply were bowled out for only 103 with Jack Buchanan-Rolleston and Sam Osborne taking 3 wickets each, and Glen Graham taking two.