BATTLING BURNDENNETT TAKE HONOURS AFTER SUPERB WEEKEND

The action started early for Division 2 sides this weekend after Creevedonnell stunned Ardmore for the second time in a week on Friday night to book their place in the final of the Sperrin Springs Cup. The Bleachgreen side was dismissed for just 97 as Ellis McGarrigle returned figures of 3-30 and Stephen Scroggie's side had plenty in hand as they successfully chased that down. Alan Duddy is in tremendous form at present and the former Brigade man was unbeaten on 43 when the winning runs in an 8-wicket win were scored. Creevedonnell will now meet St Johnston in this Sunday's final at Beechgrove.

There was also a double set of league fixtures as well and not everything went according to plan on Saturday as Burndennett let the air out of Drummond's promotion push when they beat Gordon Cooke's side by 14 runs to post their first league win of the season. The visitors batted 45 overs to make a competitive 141 all out with Niall Devine top scoring with 43, Mark Doherty 27 and Stephen McCay 20 while Cooke and Craig Hartin shared 6 wickets and Stevie Moore added a couple more for the home side. Drummond's batting has been very solid this season but they missed the chance to re-join Ardmore in top spot despite their former Irish International making 49. Johnny Devine with 3 for 15 and Ross McCay's 2 for 15 left the hosts 14 runs short at the end of a turgid affair that saw the visitors thrilled to break their season's duck.

St Johnston are on the tails of the leaders after they were much too strong for inconsistent Killyclooney at the Boathole. Skipper Richard McMorris top scored with 41 for the visitors as they made 149 all out, David MacBeth claiming 4 for 19 and his brother Ian 2 for 19 and the Donegal side wasted little time in knocking off the required runs. Sachin Dixit was unbeaten on 58 and Alan MacBeth 54 not out as the Saints romped to a facile 9-wicket win.

The final game of the day saw Sion Mills record a welcome win when they got the better of The Nedd in a low scoring encounter in Tyrone. John Gallagher made 32 and Mark Patterson 31 in the home team's modest 126 all out as Gareth Burns (4 for 12), Keith Burns (3 for 34) and Jamie Millar (2 for 2) seemed to have put the visitors on course. Despite 25 from Kyle Morrow at the top of the order however, Patterson then claimed 5 for 25 as Sion put the pressure on and The Nedd wilted. This was just Sion's second win of the season so far but it moves them level on points with Vinny O'Hara's team.

Sunday's heavy rain badly affected proceedings and the Sion Mills v St Johnston game was abandoned early on while Ardmore's match at The Nedd was due to continue on into midweek. Adrian Murphy, who else was among the runs once more, another unbeaten century for the West Indian here as the league leaders racked up 265 for 6 in their 50 overs. Paul Brolly with 34, Ger McAuley (31), Mark Chambers (25), Paul McDowell (24) and Tim Harris (20) all chipped in while Kyle Morrow with 2 for 30 was best with the ball for The Nedd. The hosts were 23 without loss in reply when rain brought an early end to proceedings for the day.

Sunday though, like the weekend belonged to Burndennett. Having accounted for Drummond 24 hours earlier, Johnny Devine's side then locked horns with another title chaser, Creevedonnell, and from not having won a game for three months, the hosts found themselves winning twice in as many days. Creevedonnell batted first and knocks of 35 from Myles Neely and Ellis McGarrigle as well as 31 from skipper Stephen Scroggie helped them to a respectable if unspectacular 167 all out. John McCormick was the star of the show for Burndennett as he finished with figures of 5 for 26 while Rory Devine added 2 for 27. Burndennett got off to an excellent start in reply Galvin Pollock making 42, Mark Doherty 37 and Niall Devine 33 as they got themselves into a winning position before Gary Neely intervened. The former Ireland International claimed 4 for 46, including a hat-trick and Brian Dougherty bowled really well to claim 3 for 13, but Burndennett refused to let go and clung on to record a 2-wicket win. It has been a superb weekend for the club after all their trials and tribulations of the summer and Burndennett look set to be a completely different proposition in the second half of the season.

There's something of a mixed bag for Division two sides in the coming week with several re-arranged league games still to be played whilst the two semi finals of the Sammy Jeffrey Memorial Shield are listed for this coming Saturday. The first of those sees The Nedd entertain St Johnston at the Kings Lane and while the visitors will start favourites they will be well aware that their promotion chase was de-railed at the same venue just a few weeks ago. Vinny O'Hara's side has struggled to put their best foot forward at times this summer but results like that one show that they have the personnel for the job. Granted the batting relies a lot on Kyle Morrow and Alex Steele and the Saints will be looking to keep those two in check, but there are plenty of other useful performers in the home ranks. The trouble for The Nedd is that they are usually one thing or the other and they have had some harrowing defeats this season as well, most recently at Creevedonnell in their 20/20 replay and again at Sion at the weekend. The Saints have had their ups and downs too but remain as compact a unit as any in the league. The return of Bobby Rao certainly gives their bowling a lift and to be fair to them their batting usually holds up fairly well anyway. Skipper David MacBeth will rely on the tried and tested panel of players that has served them well over the past number of years with the addition of Kushpal Singh and Mike Ryan who have shown decent form lately. Much will depend on who wants it more but the Donegal side's cup pedigree will make them hard to beat.

Creevedonnell host Ardmore in the other semi final as the pair cross swords for the third time in a fortnight. The visitors lost their unbeaten league record to Stephen Scroggie's men in a high scoring encounter at the Bleachgreen recently; that despite another century from Adrian Murphy. The West Indian has been on an amazing streak for the league leaders this summer and followed up that �ton� with another one against Sion Mills the following day. Mark Chambers and Paul Brolly have also been among the runs for Ardmore this season albeit theirs has been very much a supporting role behind Murphy. Scroggie's side also came out on top in Friday night's Sperrin Springs semi final so no doubt George Brolly's men will be keen to set the record straight on Saturday. After a disappointing few weeks in May the Creevies had really improved ahead of Sunday's loss at Burndennett but they are far from out of the title race. Former Brigade players Nicki Cooke and Alan Duddy have both been in very good form of late while Gary Neely, Gareth Falconer and Brian Dougherty have also turned in match-winning performances in that good run. This is definitely a competition that brings out the best in Creevedonnell and despite the fact that they haven't won it for a few seasons now, few would bet against them making next month's decider at Eglinton.

There is just one league game on Saturday owing to the Sammy Jeffrey ties and Burndennett will attempt to consolidate their magnificent weekend when they entertain another side that has blown hot and cold in equal measure in Killyclooney. The hosts haven't had their sorrows to seek after the first team squad was pretty much disassembled during the close season but those wins over Drummond and Creevedonnell will surely lift the mood no end. The visitors themselves recovered from a poor start to string together a couple of results but they too have relied heavily on a few players as Mark Gordon in particular aided by Sammy McElhatton and James Colhoun laid the foundation for their successes. They will probably start favourites in the circumstances but I have a sneaking suspicion that Burndennett will feel they can win this one as well.

The league game between Drummond and The Nedd was scheduled to start on Monday evening and finish tonight and this local derby usually throws up a decent contest. Certainly Drummond will be hoping to keep the pressure on at the top of the table as Gordon Cooke's side bids to build on a league campaign in which Saturday's reverse was just their second thus far. The former Ireland International will be desperate to lead the club back to the top flight but has enough experience to know that with Ardmore, Creevedonnell and St Johnston all in close proximity he dare not take his eye off the ball for a second. The hosts should have too many guns on this occasion as they look to put the cat among the pigeons in the chase for top spot.