POOR WEEKEND FOR NORTH WEST SIDES AS CUP COUNT DECIMATED

Having had a recently unprecedented seven sides progress to the second round of this year's Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup, North West sides didn't get much chance to bask in the glory on Saturday when the carpet was pulled from under our feet in spectacular fashion. Only Brigade went through on the field of play but while it was a pretty miserable day all round, once again the main talking points were concerning matters off it. It has been a bad year for matches between Instonians and North West clubs this season, the Belfast side has now played Fox Lodge in the first round of this very competition and gone through by 1 run in controversial circumstances, played Bready in an Ulster Cup game that went to protest and now Limavady in Saturday's abandoned game. That is not in any way to apportion blame in any shape, form or fashion by the way, merely a sequence of events that has contrived to throw up such a scenario. Not having been at the Hunter Grounds at the time events are only being relayed second hand and there is no doubt that Limavady feel that they have their own version. The Roesiders are expected to present a strong case to CricketIreland and its fair to assume that with the parent body now involved, both clubs will be asked to fully explain their involvement in Saturday's events.

The rest of the matters were settled in more traditional fashion with Brigade's impressive hammering of Clontarf the one bright spot for local sides. The Beechgrove outfit was one of five from here drawn to travel South and despite being without skipper Mark Simpson they put in a powerful all-round performance to progress to the quarter finals. The Waterside men have been given a major chance to go still further having been paired with another Leinster team, Pembroke, albeit they once again find themselves on the road. Bready, Glendermott and Eglinton all took something of a mauling in their respective games; Eglinton in particular will be thankful that they don't have to play Railway Union every fortnight while a familiar face was central to Glendermott's exit. Phoenix had more than enough to see off Gordon Montgomery's side but it wasn't Jeremy Bray or Dave Langford-Smith behind the big total, but former Strabane opener Ryan Gallagher who took 75 off the Bonds Street side's exposed attack.

Donemana may have taken their leave of the competition at Merrion but not before the McBrine clan had celebrated another champagne moment in their endless involvement at the Holm club. Dad Junior was joined by sons Ritchie, Andy and new senior recruit William in the first team on Saturday in a marvellous family milestone. Cricket in these parts is in the blood as we know but there are few better known or more widely respected clans that the McBrines. In an era where cash is king James and Junior have remained fiercely loyal to their boyhood ideals and the mantle is now being passed down the line. Ritchie didn't feature much in the senior squad over the past couple of seasons while Andy looked a natural from the minute he got the nod. The elder brother seems to have opted to put a shift in recently however and the end result has been exactly the same. The fact that the selectors opted to pitch William in at the deep end speaks volumes and I have to agree completely that now is the time to get him in for a while when he has the entire support network to count on. Despite being set an imposing total by the hosts Donemana gave it a real go before coming up 27 runs light but at least William will be able to say he made his senior debut when his dad was still at the top of his game.

Maybe surprisingly the toughest resistance came from Bonds Glen who entertained holders Leinster and belied the odds to give their illustrious visitors a real scare. The Bee Gees may have only managed 147 when they batted but the Dublin side lost 7 wickets getting there and another 30 runs to play with could have made things very interesting. Gary Hamilton's side must now try to put the experience to good use as they get down to the bread and butter issues of fighting their way out of the relegation spot.

Local sides didn't fare much better in Sunday's Ulster Cup either; Glendermott and Fox Lodge losing in the dreaded bowl out to Waringstown and North Down respectively while Limavady took their frustrations out on hapless Carrickfergus. The Roesiders dismissed the Belfast outfit for just 52 and didn't hang about in cruising to a 9-wicket win to lift the mood a little at the Hunter Grounds. Despite the success however, having gone into the weekend with a total representation of ten sides in the two cups, and coming out with just two, it has been a very disappointing few days for local cricket. On the subject of the Ulster Cup by the way you may remember that last week we flagged up the ongoing issue of Bready's appeal following that loss to Instonians. At the same time as that it was being announced that the appeal was unsuccessful and that the result stood. What evidence or consideration was used in reaching that decision I have no idea but what came out of the whole episode was crystal clear. There has to be rules for every tournament that clubs play in and they should be unambiguous. It should not take a fortnight of feet shuffling to establish whether or not someone has broken a rule. Every Club must be issued with a copy of the playing regulations IN ADVANCE of the competition so that clubs are not left to ring round each other on a Saturday night to ask about coloured clothing or Duckworth Lewis. That is not to question the outcome of the decision in any way of course because a lot of the talk has revolved around the player in question not having been registered before April 15. The fact of the matter is that Farooq Iqbal is far from the only player to play in the tournament who wasn't registered with their Union before that date. In many ways it would have been impossible to penalise Instonians because it would have reduced the whole competition to a farce given that they in turn could have cited any amount of other examples. Instead let's see if we can make it case closed and lesson learned.

Finally this evening there was some much needed good news for the local Union when it was revealed that no fewer than four North West players will be in the combined Irish squad for the forthcoming Inter-Continental Cup and one- dayers against Namibia. Brigade's Chris Dougherty, Strabane's Niall McDonnell, Fox Lodge's Graeme McCarter as well as Limavady's Stuart Thompson have got the nod. Local representation has hardly been excessive in recent times but at a time when local clubs have been struggling a little on the inter-regional front the announcement is obviously a boost for the players involved and the region overall.