CREEVEDONNELL PROMOTED AS LOCAL CRICKET SEASON ENDS

The destination of the Billy Henderson Properties senior title may already have been known last week but there were three pivotal games left for Saturday past as the promotion and relegation issues were finally resolved. Thankfully there was no need for play-offs in the end either as the sides at the bottom of Division 1 and top of Division 2 sorted it out for themselves on an edgy day. Both of the struggling teams were in Tyrone on Saturday, Bonds Glen went into their match at Magheramason knowing that a win in their 20/20 game would guarantee their safety while Eglinton travelled to Strabane Park for a 45 over contest aware that even two points against the Red Caps still might not be enough.

Trevor Hamilton has had a marvellous season captaining Bready this summer, picking up both the Northern Bank and Faughan Valley but the skipper had announced that this was to be his final game as he wanted to spend a bit more time with his young family and to concentrate on his football refereeing career. Missing professional Agha Sabir Ali who had already flown home and with Brian Crumley, David Scanlon and Bryan Scanlon all unavailable the hosts had a slightly makeshift look about them but batted first nonetheless. The Bee Gees struck early on removing both Mark Olphert and Steven Clarke but David Rankin was proving a bit more troublesome as he and James Long took Bready to 110 for 4. In the year of spectacular collapses the Magheramason boys had one more left in the locker however and as they tried to up the ante in the final few overs they lost the entire bottom half of their batting for 9 runs to finish on 119. Taking Rankin's 43 and Long's 32 out of that hardly leaves much to share around but that wouldn't have worried the Bee Gees one little bit. The visitors' professional, Gihan Dilruk, has been absolutely immense for them since his belated arrival and he led the way again with the ball claiming 3 for 13 while there were two wickets apiece for Colin Hall and Leslie Curry. Determined to finish the job he had been paid to do Dilruk then swapped ball for bat and as his team-mates and their supporters chewed on fingernails, he hit a very patient unbeaten 62 that allowed his side to close out a comfortable 8-wicket win. Having gone through the first eight weeks of the season not looking likely to win a single match these points represented win number five for Gary Hamilton's side including a double over the senior cup holders. This was an immense achievement for the Glen men and while Dilruk's contribution proved the difference and then some, they will be nobody's mugs in 2012 with this experience behind them.

While the celebrations were beginning in the Bee Gees' camp it was a different story at the Park as Eglinton now knew they were relegated regardless of the result of their game with the outgoing champions. Strabane were asked to bat first and although the villagers also made early inroads they found Niall McDonnell in stubborn mood. A third wicket partnership between the Irish International and Mark Gillespie then took the contest away; McDonnell hitting 10 fours and 3 sixes in his 92 while Gillespie hit 6 fours and a six in his 58 that helped Strabane to 238 for 9 in their 45 overs. Stephen McCloskey's 5 for 45 helped to limit the damage but even so it looked a huge ask and with word filtering through to the players of Bonds Glen's win, the match lost its zest.

Eglinton's reply was flat in keeping with the situation while Strabane joined in the end-of-season spirit by sharing the bowling around the team. Niall McDonnell did best of the newbies, in fact the opener did best of the lot as his 9 overs ended with the impressive figures of 3 for 29. Neal Stewart top scored for the visitors with 36 as their reply closed on 184 all out but all that will matter is the fact that after ten years in the top flight Andy Christie's side must now plot a course back again having finished four points adrift of the pack and with only 1 win from their final 13 league games.

The villagers' place will be taken by Creevedonnell after they won a bizarre 20/20 contest at The Nedd, thereby ruling out the need for a play-off with Drummond. Gary Neely hit 4 sixes in his 36 as the aerial route seemed the way to go on a damp, green pitch before an unbroken 6th wicket stand worth 40 runs between Leighton McGarrigle and Gareth Falconer took the 'Donnell up to a very useful looking total of 140 for 5. The Nedd's reply never got started as Neely ripped the heart out of their order; the former Ireland International claiming 6 wickets for 3 runs,and 2 of them were wides! Nicky Cooke was the perfect foil at the other end as his four overs returned 2 for 7 and by the time those two had bowled their collective 8 overs The Nedd were 4 for 8. With number 11 Keith Burns not batting, only Noel McMichael and Alwyn Morrow stood between their team and embarrassment but that pair batted as if their lives depended on it and somehow survived through to 20 overs. Scoring was unimportant by that time and although the final total was 56 for 8 that was a superb effort from the final pair. All of that meant of course that Creevedonnell were thoroughly deserving champions and after a 30 year absence, the Curryfree Road men were back among the big boys. They know that much work now needs to be done ahead of next April but it is going to be very interesting times there during the close season as the hunt for players begins.

And so another cricket season ends and while Bready led the fight among the Tyrone sides it will probably go down as an otherwise indifferent campaign. The weather certainly didn't help but the word on the street is that the local Union is about to embrace change, to some degree at least, that ought to make 2012 a different proposition. Here's hoping!