CHEERS AND TEARS FOR TYRONE SIDES IN BOB KERR IRISH SENIOR CUP

We were probably due a wet Saturday and the Gods delivered in style as all but one of the five ties in the first round of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup scheduled for the North West this weekend were abandoned without a ball being bowled. As a result of the abandonments Strabane will now travel to Dublin on Sunday week to take on Railway Union but they will do so in the knowledge that if they do manage to pull off a really difficult win they have a home tie against Eglinton to look forward to.

Bonds Glen�s match with Civil Service North was another washout meaning that the Bee Gees will be heading to Stormont next weekend as well, however for the clubs drawn away in Round 1; all matches were completed with the assistance of Duckworth Lewis.

Bready faced a difficult looking hurdle at CIYMS but Trevor Hamilton�s side managed to come away with a 3-wicket win despite again finding problems in the batting order. Some tight bowling from the Magheramason men�s attack meant that the Belfast side failed to get away in their innings. Marc Fleming, who has just broken through into the first team again bowled superbly for the visitors and his 3 for 14 was the pick of Bready�s return. David Scanlon and Mark Olphert were also on the money; both picking up a brace in a very tidy performance. CIYMS eventually struggled to make 130 for 7 in 37 overs courtesy of a half century from the talented Barry Cooper. The home side�s slow progress coupled with several heavy showers then saw Bready�s revised target set at just 106 in 34 and the visitors would have been delighted with that. Once again though the batting looked short on confidence and a steady stream of wickets gave CI renewed hope. The contest swung with a solid knock from professional Agha Sabir Ali however as he made 44 to put them near the line while David Scanlon�s unbeaten 19 took them over with 3 wickets still intact. A very good win this for the visitors but the batting really needs to find some consistency if any trophies are to head to Magheramason this season.

Donemana, still serving a home ban in this competition travelled to Rush on Saturday and the former winners pulled off the result of the round as they inflicted a 130- run defeat on their hosts. Things hadn�t started too well for Richard Kee�s side who found themselves reeling on 34 for 4 having failed to cope with the accuracy of Amir Iqbal. Donemana�s Pakistani professional Kamran Sajid landed in Tyrone on Thursday evening and he helped steady the ship with 25 before Junior McBrine and Ricky Lee Dougherty turned the contest on its head. McBrine is of course a past master at this type of situation and he provided the steel as young Dougherty set light to the run rate. The wicketkeeper batsman is really coming of age this season and for an hour Rush could find nowhere to bowl to him. By the time they did the pair had posted a 132-run stand that had the home side staring at their bootlaces. Dougherty fell just 9 short of a thoroughly deserved century and Junior added 74 and when James McBrine smashed an unbeaten 35 in the final couple of overs Donemana had set the Leinster outfit an unlikely 295 to win. That looked a long way off as the openers made their way to the middle but within half an hour the game was dead in the water. Dwayne McGarrigle, looking as though he is thoroughly enjoying his new ball role again fairly ripped through the home side�s top order to leave them teetering on 29 for 5, McGarrigle claiming the whole bag for himself to that point. Alan Butterly showed some much need resistance as he made 72 and Sadaat Gul added 30 but all they were doing was delaying the inevitable. In the end Rush managed 164 as Donemana contemplated another bus run south in 4-weeks time as they take on Merrion in the next round.

Two from two for the local sides then and it took some wretched luck for Fox Lodge in their game at Shaw�s Bridge to prevent the full house. This one was also pretty badly affected by the weather and when the hosts eventually made it out to bat the match had been reduced to 31 overs a side. It started poorly for them too as they lost a steady stream of wickets and at 79 for 6 the North West side looked in control. Morrow and Kirk then combined to put Inst back in it and they ended up making 158 for 7 in their allotted overs. More rain meant that the Foxies were set a revised 136 in 21 overs and skipper Brian Allen would have been well pleased with that however they were soon on the back foot themselves. Eugene Moleon was proving a tricky customer for the Foxies top order and they were 4 down in no time however Allen was proving more elusive. Jonny Robinson made a valuable 27 before being run out and skipper Allen eventually succumbed for 48 as the run chase intensified. Andrew McGinnis and Graeme McCarter then took up the mantle as Fox Lodge headed towards the final couple of overs needing 17 to win and with 5 wickets in hand. The Ballymagorry men would have fancied their chances at that point but disaster struck in spades to force a chaotic end to the match. What turned out to be the final ball of the match was bowled with just three fielders inside the circle but despite the vehement protests from the visitors the officials failed to penalise the infringement. Moments later a heavy burst of rain sent the players scampering off and although it lasted barely a minute the damage was done. Competition rules state that any interruption to play late in the day brings an end to proceedings and the Foxies were a single run behind on the rate at that stage. The price of a failed umpires� call was all too obvious as last year�s semi finalists were left to pick up the bill. It will have been an arduous journey back down the M2 for Brian Allen�s men and it was hard to argue that the better team had lost.

The rain also accounted for two of the scheduled three Division 2 games in the Billy Henderson Properties League leaving Sion Mills� visit to promotion chasing Drummond as the day�s only fayre.

Sion have struggled a little so far this season and they took first use but were soon in trouble as Graeme Anderson snapped up four wickets and Gordon Cooke and Damien Carlin claimed two apiece. Andy Lucas did best with the bat, his 20 by far the best in a disappointing total of 76 all out that was 32 overs in the making. Drummond wasted little time in knocking off the required runs; Stevie Moore making an unbeaten 40 and Cooke an unbeaten 20 in a 7-wicket win that sees Cooke side move to the top of the league standings.

There�s a host of action this coming weekend as well; weather permitting the second round ties in the Northern Bank senior cup will go ahead although Bready and Strabane are both already in the hat for the last eight. Sunday sees a full programme of Club Turf Ulster Cup matches and we will bring you news of all of those next time.