BRIGADE FINISH ON A HIGH WHILE EGLINTON FIND A LIFELINE

The final scheduled Saturday of the North West cricket season saw another few twists and turns and despite the fact that two absolutely crucial matches were due to finish last night it now seems as though the campaign will be extended until next Sunday to allow for potential play-offs. Brigade have completed their league programme and Mark Simpson's team maintained the gap between themselves and Limavady with a 5-wicket win at the Holm. The hosts were without several first team players but they fairly hit the ground running as Ryan Hunter and Kamran Sajid flew out of the traps. Hunter went after the Brigade skipper in particular hammering 31 runs off his first 2 overs as Donemana reached 50 without loss in just the 5th over. Simpson was to have the last laugh however and the fall of the Ireland under-19 player sparked a batting collapse as the hosts lost 4 wickets without adding a run. Hunter made 43 from just 18 balls including 4 sixes and 4 fours while Sajid added a more patient 37 but it took 33 in the middle order from skipper Richard Kee to steady the Donemana innings. Simpson recovered from the early onslaught to finish with figures of 5 for 59 but Iftikhar Hussain's 8 over spell which yielded a return of 2 for 10 was every bit as pivotal as the Tyrone side closed on 149 all out. Knowing that a win would guarantee them at least a title play-off Brigade began nervously and although opener Chris Dougherty resisted, a good spell of bowling from the Donemana professional had them on the ropes at 40 for 3. Dougherty and Johnny Thompson took it to 79 before the former was trapped leg before having made 32 but Thompson was in the mood on his return to his old stomping ground. He and Ata-Ur-Rehman then took Brigade to the brink and although the former Pakistan Test star was bowled by Andy McBrine for 19, the visitors had done enough. Thompson was unbeaten on 62 in the end having hit 7 sixes and 4 fours and despite Sajid's 4 wickets, Brigade closed out a comfortable enough win in the end.

Limavady kept the pressure on the leaders as they beat an under-strength Strabane to ensure that Andrew Riddles' side went into yesterday's game at Bready knowing that a win would mean a title play-off. Strabane fielded without both of their regular openers but Tommy Barr seemed to enjoy his opportunity as he chipped in with 23 at the start. Mark Gillespie's 28 and 23 from Mark Roulston were about as much as the Red Caps had to offer in the face of a good all-round bowling performance from the visitors and in the end the Strabane innings closed on a modest enough 132. Simon Dunn with 3 for 12 was the pick of the Roesiders' attack although there were two wickets apiece for Nigel Thompson, Stuart Thompson and skipper Riddles.

Limavady started well enough and were cruising in reply at 70 for 1 before losing three very quick wickets, and at 78 for 4 there would have been a few concerns in the camp. Mark McDaid dug in to make 32 however and then an unbroken 6th wicket partnership between the captain and Nigel Thompson saw Limavady home with 5 wickets to spare, setting up yesterday's league finale. Ryan Patton claimed 2 wickets for 24 runs but the Tyrone side look to have a very useful prospect in Aaron Gillespie who bowled a very solid 5 overs to return 1 for 9.

Glendermott seem to be the team to follow if you like early finishes and their match at home to Coleraine didn't last much longer than last week's 2 hour contest at Fox Lodge. This time the Rectory men fared a bit better in posting 112 all out, Gordon Montgomery making 27, Roy Silva 26 and Rodney Pearson an unbeaten 24 while Stephen Dunn returned the best figures of the week as he claimed 7 for 47. Andrew Douglas with 3 for 50 was the other wicket taker as Coleraine looked to finish their season on a high after a solid summer. The Bannsiders lost a few early wickets themselves as they seemed to get caught up in the end-of-season atmosphere and their cause wasn't helped by the fact that the hosts used 8 different bowlers. David Cooke's unbeaten 26 and 21 not out from young Simon Hunter helped the Sandel Lodge side to recover from 78 for 5 to post a 5-wicket win however as Craig Averill finished with 3 for 18. It has been a strange end to the year from the Bonds Street side and there looks sure to be a number of different faces starting 2012 to the ones that closed 2011 on Saturday.

At the bottom, events have taken a real turn after Bonds Glen's game at Bready was washed out without a ball being bowled while Eglinton recorded their first win in nearly three months to give themselves a chance of survival. Their recent loss at the Bee Gees seemed to have doomed the villagers to Division 2 but they managed to find the resolve from somewhere to claw back the damage against another side who have had the end-of-season flag hoisted for the past fortnight, Fox Lodge. Batting first the hosts made 160 all out, Johnny Robinson with 42, Andy Britton 22, Jonathan Heywood 22 and skipper Brian Allen 21 doing best with the bat while professional Ryan Butterworth mixed it up really well for the visitors as he claimed 5 for 44. The Zimbabwean has come in for some stick recently for being missing when the chips went down but he redeemed the situation in style here and with Richard Wylie (3 for 31) allowed his team-mates to set their sights on a victory target of 161. With just this and their re-arranged game with Strabane to go, Eglinton knew they couldn't afford to let this opportunity slip and Andy Christie and Christopher Pierce set about ensuring that they didn't. Both are very capable players as we know but neither has been in great form of late, however they certainly cured their ills here with an opening stand worth 133 runs. Both men passed their half centuries; Christie hitting 8 fours in his 65 while Pierce hit 4 fours and a six in his 52 and from there on it was a stroll. Andy Britton did claim 2 wickets to put some respectability on the margin and while Bonds Glen still have matters in their own hands at the bottom, a relegation play-off now looks to be on the cards.

It has gone into extra time in the Division 2 promotion race as well; Creevedonnell's attempts to book their place in the top flight for the first time in 30 years washed away at The Nedd on Friday evening. That allowed Drummond the chance to stake their claim and Gordon Cooke's side travelled to Burndennett on Saturday and recorded a thumping 9-wicket win. The hosts were bowled out for just 57 as Cooke and Damien Carlin claimed 5 wickets each and an unbeaten 42 from Stevie Moore sorted matters out pretty quickly. That means the two sides are now level on points with just Creevedonnell's outstanding 20/20 game at Ballykelly left and the clubs have agreed to play that one next Saturday. A win for Stephen Scroggie's side send them up, anything else will mean a play-off and the season being extended again until the 17th as Drummond don't play Sunday cricket. Did someone say the season is over? Not a bit of it.

BILLY HENDERSON PROPERTIES DIVISION 1

At Ballymagorry, Eglinton 163-3-29.4 (A Christie 65, C Pierce 52, A Britton 2-39) beat Fox Lodge 160-10-32.4 (J Robinson 42, J Heywood 22, A Britton 22, B Allen 21, R Butterworth 5-44, R Wylie 3-31) by 7 wickets.

At Strabane Park, Limavady 133-5-29.2 (M McDaid 32, A Riddles 26*, R Patton 2-24) beat Strabane 132-10-36.5 (M Gillespie 28, M Roulston 23, T Barr 23, S Dunn 3-12, N Thompson 2-23,S Thompson 2-30. A Riddles 2-34) by 5 wickets.

At The Rectory, Coleraine 116-5-23.1 (D Cooke 26*, S Hunter 21*, C Averill 3-18) beat Glendermott 112-10-16.1 (G Montgomery 27, R Silva 26, S Dunn 7-47, A Douglas 3-50) by 5 wickets.

At The Holm, Brigade 153-5-20.3 (J Thompson 62*, C Dougherty 32, K Sajid 4-48) beat Donemana 149-10-30.1 (R Hunter 43, K Sajid 37, M Simpson 5-59, I Hussain 2-10) by 5 wickets.

BILLY HENDERSON PROPERTIES DIVISION 2

At Burndennett. Drummond 63-1-6.5 (S Moore 42*) beat Burndennett 57-10-13.3 (G Cooke 5-20, D Carlin 5-37) by 9 wickets.

At The Nedd, Sion Mills 108-3-22.4 (R O'Neill 43*, A Lucas 24*) beat The Nedd 107-10-36.5 (A Steele 42, C Havern 5-17, J Friel 3-21) by 7 wickets.