ONLY TWO GAMES SURVIVE BUT THRILLING COMEBACK AS BRIGADE GO CLEAR

Once again the weather took its toll on the domestic cricket programme on Saturday as just two games survived in the top flight of the Billy Henderson Properties league while rain also accounted for all three scheduled games in Division 2.

With the summer evenings starting to wind down it is becoming increasingly difficult to envisage all clubs getting their backlogs cleared so much could now depend on the pivotal clashes still to be played.

One of those is at the bottom of the table where Bonds Glen and Eglinton are due to slug it out next Sunday for advantage in the relegation dogfight and while the Bee Gees match against Donemana was postponed at the weekend, the villagers still have a chance to take the high ground ahead of that showdown when they resume their match at Limavady on Monday night.

Bad light put an early end to proceedings on Saturday evening but the visitors will feel they are in with a life of defending their total when battle is re-joined.

Eglinton batted first and skipper Andy Christie was in determined mood at the top of the order as he got his side off to a solid start. Despite losing Chris Pierce early on, Christie and Richard Wylie posted a second wicket stand worth 88 as Eglinton threatened to go big.

Opposing skipper Andrew Riddles then reined things back a bit for the hosts, Christie out for 44 and Richard Wylie following immediately after bringing up a half century that included 3 sixes and a four. Johnny Gardiner with 28 and Simon Olphert with 21 also showed a bit of scrap but in the end Eglinton were forced to settle for 206 all out. On most days they would probably take that at Limavady but its probably fair to say it had looked like being a few more most of the way through.

Riddles' 4 for 31 was by far the best the home attack had to offer with Nigel Thompson next in with 2 for 48 and a wicket apiece for Stuart Thompson and Simon Dunn.

Tom Riddles and Mark McDaid put on a 40-run opening stand as Limavady began their reply before the former fell to Johnny Gardiner. Adam McDaid had made just 3 when he was caught off the bowling of professional Ryan Butterworth and it could have been so much better for the strugglers soon after when Mark McDaid was dropped the following ball with the batsmen having crossed.

Grateful of the reprieve Mark McDaid looked in excellent touch as he hit 6 fours and a six to finish unbeaten on 50 when the umpires called a halt with 18 overs gone and the home team 76 for 2.

Both sides were due to be in action on Monday evening, the Roesiders at Bready and Eglinton playing Strabane however the fact that this one now continues on into midweek puts paid to those plans as well.

The only other game to go ahead was at Sandel Lodge where Coleraine and Brigade served up a thriller. Batting first the Bannsiders again defied the absence of their professional Mohammad Salman as they stood toe-to-toe with a much touted Brigade attack.

Not for the first time the league leaders found Ian McGregor in dominant form as he and Scott Campbell gave their team an excellent platform with a solid opening stand. Campbell of course has just re-joined the side after his spell with Ireland under-19's at the World Cup qualifiers and the youngster happily contained Brigade's new ball pairing.

He played second fiddle to McGregor for much of their 107-run partnership and was eventually out for 42 having done an excellent job for the team. Vischal Chopra then joined McGregor in the middle and although he too found scoring difficult they took Coleraine to 158 before Chopra fell to Hussain.

McGregor though was proving a lot harder to shift and joined by David Cooke took the hosts beyond the 200 barrier as the chase for late runs intensified. The opener was finally out for 109, caught by Ata-Ur-Rehman off the bowling of Mark Simpson in an innings lasting 135 balls and including 14 fours. Cooke's unbeaten 30 came at more than a run a ball as Coleraine finished on 226 for 3 and although to the naked eye they may have looked 20 short given the seven wickets in hand, the Bannsiders looked content.

Iftikhar Hussain with 1 for 22 and Trevor Britton 1 for 24 were easily the pick of the Brigade attack with skipper Simpson the other wicket taker.

Brigade's reply started slowly with just 6 runs coming off the bat in the first 11 overs as Chris Dougherty and Trevor Britton struggled to cope with Stephen Dunn and David Cooke.

The former's frustrations were ended when Cooke had him caught by Johnny Martin having faced 32 balls for his 4. Skipper Simpson promoted himself up the order but he didn't get too long in the middle as Cooke did for him as well to leave Brigade 23 for 2.

Britton was next to go as Coleraine got a hold on the contest, the spinner run out for just 7 trying to up the rate and after 14 overs the Beechgrove side looked in trouble at 35 for 3. Much was then going to depend on Iftikhar Hussain and a middle order that has looked vulnerable at times this year but new batsman Gareth McKeegan went after first change bowler Johnny Martin and clubbed consecutive fours to signal some resistance.

That was to be about as good as it got in that battle for McKeegan however as Martin had him caught by Ian McGregor just a couple of balls later. The same bowler then claimed the prize wicket of Hussain as Brigade looked to be running out of steam however Johnny Thompson and Ata-Ur-Rehman breathed new life into the game with a 60-run stand.

Rehman has been giving it a go with the bat this season but this was a really solid effort from the Pakistani as he then teamed up with first David Barr and then, most tellingly with Nick Donnell to turn the game on its head.

Donnell played an excellent cameo, his unbeaten 26 coming off 21 balls and even after Rehman was out for a match-defining 78, Christopher Campbell had enough resolve to thump the third ball of the 50th over to the boundary to seal a stunning win for the Beechgrove lads.

Brigade were then entertaining Limavady at Beechgrove yesterday in the knowledge that a win in that would leave the title race firmly in their own hands.


At Sandel Lodge, Brigade 227-8-49.3 ( A Ur-Rehman 78, J Thompson 41, N Donnell 26, J Martin 2-41, D Cooke 2-51) beat Coleraine 226-3-50 (I McGregor 109, S Campbell 42, D Cooke 30*, V Chopra 23) by 2 wickets.

At The Hunter Grounds, Eglinton 206-10-49.3 (R Wylie 50. A Christie 44, J Gardiner 28, S Olphert 21, A Riddles 4-31, N Thompson 2-48) v Limavady 76-2-18 (M McDaid 50*) continues Monday evening at 6.30.