BRIGADE THROUGH TO ALL-IRELAND SEMIS AS LIMAVADY OPEN TITLE RACE

There were four games in the top flight of the Billy Henderson Properties North West league on Saturday including the clash of the leading pair at Limavady while Brigade managed to keep the local flag flying in the Bob Kerr senior cup when they won their quarter final tie at Pembroke. The Beechgrove side travelled south for the second consecutive time in this year's all-Ireland competition and having accounted for North Down in the first round, Mark Simpson's side has certainly had to earn their spurs the hard way. The skipper was instrumental in the win too as the Dublin side struggled to deal with his pace an accuracy early on and wickets fell steadily as the Waterside club assumed control. Opener Theo Lawson survived the early cull to make 37 before Robin Russell's half century in the middle order got the Leinster side's innings back on track. Allan Eastwood and Paul Lawson then rallied late on to post a 40-run 8th wicket stand that frustrated the visitors. Both men made 30 before being dismissed and a final total of 196 looked competitive enough particularly given the strong position that Brigade had been in. Skipper Simpson was the pick of the bunch with 4 for 33 although Trevor Britton bowled well too, returning figures of 3 for 42. The Beechgrove men made light of the fact that 200 is often a winning score at this venue and they were in control pretty much from the start of their reply. Chris Dougherty made 29 at the top of the order but the turning point in the game was to be an 89-run partnership between Iftikhar Hussain and Gareth McKeegan. Hussain was out shortly after reaching his half century but McKeegan remained defiant and was unbeaten on 72 when Brigade scored the winning runs with an impressive 6 wickets and almost 6 overs intact. The winners were given a little respite from the travelling when the semi final draw favoured them with an albeit difficult home tie with Waringstown but on this form few would bet against them going all the way.

On the league front Bonds Glen broke their duck for the season when Gary Hamilton's side deservedly accounted for senior cup finalists Bready, the home team with 34 runs to spare at the end of an entertaining contest. Some very wayward bowling from the visitors saw them concede 40 extras, including 30 wides, and combined with 38 from Richard Hepburn and 36 from Johnny Heaslett, that helped the Bee Gees to post a total of 208 all out. The final wicket actually fell from the very last ball of the innings, the first time this season that Gary Hamilton's side has batted their full allotment and that was to make the difference. David Scanlon with 3 for 31 was the pick of Bready's bowling while Agha Sabir Ali (2-26) and David Lecky (2 for 28) also bowled well. Bready's reply started shakily; Mark Olphert cracking a boundary from David Robinson's first ball and then being trapped leg before off his second. The big all-rounder then did for Steven Clarke, Dean Curry and the prize wicket of David Rankin while Richard Hepburn bowled professional Sabir as Bready slumped to 83 for 5. Brian Crumley staked his claim for a starting place in the cup final as he steadied things with 37 and despite Brian Scanlon making an unbeaten 41 late on, a steady fall of wickets gave the Bee Gees the scent of victory. Robinson's 4 for 34 set the pace for the win but Hepburn's 2 for 18 and 2 wickets in his first over for Derek Curry turned the game. The win was certainly lapped up by players and supporters alike and all of a sudden teams like Eglinton and Glendermott will be looking over their shoulders as the season reaches the halfway mark.

Those two were in action on Saturday as well and neither could reverse their recent poor run of form as they went down to Fox Lodge and Coleraine respectively. The villagers batted first against Brian Allen's improving Foxies and were 2 down with just 8 runs on the board early on before professional Ryan Butterworth steadied things. The Zimbabwean went on to make 46 in a knock that included 7 fours and a six and although Neal Stewart made 24 and Johnny Gardiner 19, that was about it as far as the home side's batting was concerned. Johnny Robinson claimed 3 for 14, Darryl Brown 3 for 26 and there were 2 wickets apiece for Andy Britton and Gareth Heywood as Eglinton were restricted to just 141 all out. The visitors didn't start all that brightly themselves losing Jason Milligan and Brian Allen very early but Brown with 35 and Garvan Heywood with 32 ensured there was to be no turn up. The visitors lost 6 wickets in total but their successful chase now sees them among the challengers at the business end of the table.

Coleraine got back to winning ways against a Glendermott side that looks really out of sorts at present. Gordon Montgomery's men posted a very competitive 211 for 8 in their 50 overs courtesy of half centuries from Stephen Smyth and the vastly improved Simon Killen, while Charlie Elder and skipper Montgomery added useful late runs. Johnny Martin returned figures of 4 for 52, Stephen Dunn chipped in with 2 for 47 and Rishi Chopra bowled superbly to finish his 10 overs with 2 for 28. Coleraine's reply was founded on a 134-run partnership between Mohammad Salman and David Cooke after father and son Ian and Calum McGregor had opened the innings for the first time together. Cooke was run out for 48 to end the fourth wicket stand but Salman paced his innings brilliantly as he brought Coleraine home by 4 wickets with three balls to spare. The Pakistani wicket-keeper hit 13 fours in his unbeaten 105 as Coleraine stayed on the leaders' tails.

The Hunter Grounds though is where the main event of the day domestically was played out as Limavady and Strabane served up a quality contest worthy of it's heady billing. Both sides were weakened by the loss of key players, the champions without Mark Gillespie who picked up a nasty hand injury last weekend, although Ciaran Patton played despite having been forced to withdraw from last weekend's cup game due to similar incident whilst the hosts were missing Des Curry following on from that lengthy ban imposed by CricketIreland. The Roesiders took first use of a perfect batting track and Tom Riddles' 39 gave them a solid start before Adnan Akmal and Stuart Thompson took over. All the Strabane bowlers battled in vain as Pakistan International Akmal showed his class with a magnificent 123 that formed the basis of the home side's 317 for 9. Thompson was a willing partner as he added 64 before Martin Deans ripped through Limavady's middle and lower order to finish with figures of 6 for 57. Kevin Martin and Niall McDonnell set the reply off in usual style but the former missed out on this occasion, the first of 6 dismissals for keeper Akmal. McDonnell was then joined by his skipper Beukes and these two gave a batting master class that threatened to see Strabane reel in the huge target. At 185 for 1 the writing was on the wall before Beukes inexplicably gave Simon Dunn the charge and was stumped by the keeper. Limavady's mood lifted immediately and shortly after reaching his century, McDonnell failed to heed a warning and having skied one just a ball earlier he holed out to Adam McDaid at long on and was gone. The opener hit 13 fours and 2 sixes in an 81-ball knock but when Peter Gillespie's miserable run continued soon after the game was all but up. Mark Roulston dug in for an unbeaten 29 but Ricky McDaid's 4 for 53 and 3 for 46 from Simon Dunn was enough to see Limavady join the champions at the top of the pile.