TWO HAT-TRICKS AS FAVOURITES PROGRESS IN SAMUEL JEFFREY

It was Samuel Jeffrey action all the way for Division 2 clubs on Saturday and thankfully the weather held to allow all four matches to reach their conclusion. The semi final line up has a fairly familiar look to it after those games and next month's last four pairings will see The Nedd host St Johnston and multiple time winners Creevedonnell at home to Ardmore.

The current league leaders were too strong for Burndennett in their weekend tie but made heavy weather of chasing down a modest total of 112. Conan Pollock top scored with 26, Mark Doherty made 24 and Mark Pollock 20 in that while Lee Brolly bowled very well for Ardmore to claim 4 wickets and Sean Gormley, Ciaran McDermott and Ger McCauley added 2 each. Ardmore should have reeled that in at their cush but contrived to lose 6 wickets on the way. Adrian Murphy hit 4 fours and 3 sixes as he finished unbeaten on 66 but him aside there was little else of note in the hosts' batting. Two wickets each for Stephen McCay and John McCormack put some respectability on the outcome for the visitors.

Creevedonnell were much too strong for Killyclooney despite the home side's recent run of good form and the visitors knocked Richard McMorris's side over for just 88. James Colhoun's 29 was the best that Killyclooney had to offer as Nicky Cooke and Brian Dougherty claimed 3 wickets apiece and Leighton McGarrigle chipped in with 2. Alan Duddy with 47 and Cooke with 30 helped the visitors ease over the line with 8 wickets still intact and only Mark Gordon got among the hosts batting.

The Nedd got the better of Sion Mills in an entertaining game at the Kings Lane as Vinny O'Hara's men racked up 229 for 9 in their 40 overs. Alex Steele made a half century and Johnny Young fell just one run short of repeating the dose as the home team started well. Dean Mehaffey added 43 and skipper O'Hara an unbeaten 39 whilst the bowling honours for Sion were claimed by Mark Patterson who picked up one of the day's two hat-tricks in his 4 for 20 while Raymond Harper and Lee Finlay both bowled well for less reward. Several of the visitors' batsmen got among the runs in Sion's reply; Jim McGranaghan with 34, Andy Lucas (31) and Ryan O'Neill (27) did best but their side came up 64 runs short. Johnny Young was best with the ball for The Nedd with 3 for 13 while Creighton Wilson and Johnny Murray claimed 2 each.

The final match of four saw St Johnston pick up an impressive home win against Drummond in another fairly high scoring affair. Kushpal Singh hit 5 sixes and 2 fours in an unbeaten 66 and David MacBeth added 40 and Andrew Fleming 38 in their 204 for 9. Paul McIlmoyle claimed 3 wickets and Gordon Cooke and Stevie Moore 2 each but the visitors rarely got to grips with their reply. Stevie Moore took it upon himself to go it alone, his 76 containing 7 fours and 6 sixes but in the end Drummond could muster just 135. The bowling honours were claimed by David MacBeth whose 4 for 18 included a hat-trick, and all clean bowled. David claims they were all bowled middle stump but that has yet to be verified! Rammohan Goud picked up 2 wickets as well in a comfortable win for the Donegal men.

Drummond's league match at home to Creevedonnell is ongoing this midweek; both sides keen not to give Ardmore any more rope at the top of the table. That match started on Monday evening and with the winners joining the list of sides chasing the pace-setters it means plenty of incentive for both teams.

The Bleachgreen side has pretty much had things their own way to date in the race for promotion and it would be something of a surprise if Burndennett de-railed Paul Brolly's side this coming weekend. The hosts have had a miserable time of it so far but Stephen McCay's influence has at least helped to keep them afloat. They have relied on a very young squad after a spate of defections over the winter but there is little room for sentiment in sport and Ardmore will see this as a perfect opportunity to stretch the gap at the top. The league leaders have taken advantage of the fact that Drummond, St Johnston and Creevedonnell have all dropped points already and it would be a brave man that would bet against them now making it third time lucky in the title race.

Creevedonnell host Killyclooney on Saturday as well and although the hosts will start favourites they will have noticed that Richard McMorris's side has improved steadily as the season has gone on. It took the visitors a few weeks to find their feet but buoyed by the form of Sammy McElhatton, Mark Gordon and John Blair they have started to hit their stride and could prove troublesome enough in this one. Stephen Scroggie's men haven't been pulling up any trees themselves but there is no doubting the quality in the side and they will feel that there is still time to pull back the deficit. Conditions have hardly been ideal for them to benefit from new signing Gary Neely but they're a fairly compact unit and ought to be doing better. This will be far from easy as well but if they are to get themselves into the promotion frame anything less than two wins this week will be a setback.

The final game in Division 2 next Saturday sees The Nedd entertain St Johnston and this could be the hardest one of the trio to unravel. Vinny O'Hara's men are another who would have been expected to put up a bold showing but they have really struggled to date and a very heavy defeat at Killyclooney earlier in the month almost typifies their efforts so far. The King's Lane side ought to be challenging at the business end of the table given their quality but they have yet to really bare their teeth. The Saints meanwhile are probably the one team who can genuinely keep Ardmore company in the league race and despite coming up short in a 20./20 replay against the leaders they are just one win away from making up the difference, The Donegal side looks decidedly happier keeping this type of company and probably see the league title as a poisoned chalice however that is unlikely to affect their thinking and they will be fancied to bag the points in this one.

SAMUEL JEFFREY MEMORIAL SHIELD

At The Nedd, The Nedd 229-9-40 (A Steele 50, J Young 49, D Mehaffey 43, V O'Hara 39*, M Patterson 4-20, R Harper 2-34) beat Sion Mills 165 all out in 38.4 overs (J McGranaghan 34, A Lucas 31, R O'Neill 27, J Young 3-13, J Murray 2-30, C Wilson 2-31) by 64 runs.

At The Boathole, St Johnston 204-9-40 (K Singh 66*, D MacBeth 40, A Fleming 38, P McIlmoyle 3-24, S Moore 2-16, G Cooke 2-17) beat Drummond 135 all out in 31.4 overs (S Moore 76, D MacBeth 4-18, R Goud 2-18) by 69 runs.

At the Bleachgreen, Ardmore 113-6-28.4 overs (A Murphy 66*, S McCay 2-17, J McCormack 2-19) beat Burndennett 112 all out in 36.1 overs (C Pollock 26, M Doherty 24, M Pollock 20, L Brolly 4-23, S Gormley 2-8, G McAuley 2-21, C McDermott 2-24) by 4 wickets.

At Killyclooney, Creevedonnell 91-2-17 (A Duddy 47, N Cooke 30, M Gordon 2-20) beat Killyclooney 88 all out in 21.1 overs (J Colhoun 29, N Cooke 3-22, B Dougherty 3-32, L McGarrigle 2-20) by 8 wickets.