EGLINTON ON THE VERGE BUT KILLYCLOONEY RELEGATED

There was precious little action in Division 2 over the weekend as leaders Eglinton were on a free for the wedding of their opening bowler Jonny Gardiner while the Ardmore v Drummond game had been played earlier in the season. The only match on Saturday saw Drummond head to Sion Mills with the home team still needing one more win to be absolutely sure of avoiding relegation but they came up just short here despite a solid display. Damien Carlin top scored for the Roe Valley team making 36 while Paul McIlmoyle added 27 and Steve Moore 25 in their 138 all out. Johnny Friel fared best with the ball taking 4 for 24 but he received good support from Kevin Gallagher who claimed 2 for 30 in what was a decent all-round showing from Sion. The Tyrone side found the going a lot tougher when it came their turn to bat however, only Mark McNulty with 31 and Gallagher (23) able to make much inroads. Moore with 3 for 13, Mark Averill (3-24) and Michael Lynch (2-33) combined to restrict Sion to 119 all out and a 19-run defeat as they remain second from bottom.

On Sunday Killyclooney travelled to St Johnston aware that only a win would save their senior status for another week while the Donegal side knew that anything other than two points would hand the title to Eglinton. The home side were first in here, the two captains having agreed to a 40-over contest, and a solid batting display saw them seize the initiative. Alan MacBeth hit 5 fours and 2 sixes as he made 51 while Michael Rankin (46), Ian MacBeth (35 not out), Andrew Fleming (32) and Ryan MacBeth (30) all contributed to their total of 220 for 5. Mattie Barr took 3 wickets for the visitors who then gave the Saints a real scare as they threatened an upset in the reply. Alan Colhoun hit 4 fours and 4 sixes as he made 60, sharing in a 54-run stand with fit again Mark Gordon and while those two were together the chase looked on. John Blair (27), Davy Riddles (26), and Mattie Barr (23) kept the board ticking over and going into the final over the last pair needed 11 to win. They managed a couple of twos from the first two balls before the third one went sailing to the long-off boundary only to be caught just in front of the rope as the Saints scraped home by 7 runs. The result confirmed Killyclooney's relegation but what a pity they were unable to find this sort of resistance earlier or it could have been an interesting season.

VILLAGERS READY TO CLAIM TITLE

Turning to matters upcoming and the crunch first meeting between the title combatants actually starts this evening (Wednesday) when the villagers head to the Boathole for a T20 fixture. Karl O'Doherty's side will be crowned champions should they win that and subsequently head into next month's promotion/relegation play-off with designs on an immediate return to the top flight. Eglinton's season has been built around a strong batting line up that has been able to post big runs and a varied attack that has been able to defend them. It's obviously an all-or-nothing game for David MacBeth's men who still have to win at Eglinton as well if they are to steal the title from under the leaders' noses. That second game is scheduled for Saturday so one way or another we should have a fair idea where things stand by the weekend.

Burndennett will aim to heap further misery on already-relegated Killyclooney on Saturday but Mark Doherty's men have ambitions of taking second spot should the Saints falter against Eglinton. It has been a fantastic season for Burndennett and they will be looking to close it out on a high both here and in their final league match of the season, a T20 rearranged league game in Donegal starting next Tuesday night.

The final league match this weekend sees Drummond entertain Sion Mills with little now at stake for either side. That is unlikely to affect their approach of course with both determined to finish the season strongly. The home side started really well this summer before an horrendous 2-month run without a league win but they have turned it around in recent weeks. Sion will probably be slightly disappointed that they haven't improved much themselves but the club is going in the right direction and have one or two players making the step up. There is sure to be a twist or two yet before the stumps are pulled for the season ahead of what looks like being a highly competitive league next time.