Larne travelled to Laurelvale on Saturday for a crunch game at the bottom of the table, and kept up their 100% away record as they lost their 9th and final away match of the season, the margin of defeat being 5 runs.

Larne lost the toss and were asked to field first in stifling heat and on a fantastic batting pitch. Vale made a very positive start with both openers laying some expansive strokes and things were beginning to look bleak for Larne as the 50 came up after 10 overs. The partnership was soon broken when Keith Aiston ran out South African pro Schelbusch and when Jonathan Craig bowled Edgar for a duck Larne began to claw their way back into the match.

Spin was then introduced in the form of Conrad Du Toit and Gareth Gaw who put the brakes on the scoring rate and Gaw was rewarded when he collected 2 wickets for just 19 runs. Aiston came into the attack and quickly had the dangerous Pearson caught at slip by Du Toit as Vale were reduced to 96-5 after 28 overs. The bowling and fielding remained tight for the next 15 overs and a wicket each went to Robert McClean who bowled a fiery 2nd spell, and Paul Ramsay, the result of a diving caught and bowled effort.

However, the wheels came off for Larne in the final 8 overs as Vale struck 80 runs and what should have been a total of around 180 ended up being a daunting 223. The bowlers seemed unable to bowl on the off stump and were heavily punished by Ryan Conn who whacked a series of boundaries and finished unbeaten on 79.

Although this score was an impressive one Larne were aware that it was a great wicket for batting, but they made a terrible start as openers Gareth Alexander and Alan McKee were soon back in the pavilion. Things soon got worse when they were followed by Du Toit, but a partnership of 90 between Aiston and David Tweed got them back in the hunt.

Tweed played a fine innings which was littered with glorious strokes and on another day could have scored double his 31 runs had so many shots not went straight to fielders. Aiston meanwhile was playing a gem of an innings as a succession of boundaries flowed from the middle of his bat. Anything bowled on his pads was dispatched and he was also particularly severe on anything short outside off stump. He was eventually caught behind for 71 and when he was followed by Graeme Leitch the game had swung back towards Laurelvale.

However, Craig had been quietly keeping the score moving and was beginning to open up when he was spectacularly caught on the boundary for 24. Vale thought that victory was now secure with Larne needing 64 to win from the final 9 overs but reckoned without Trevor Dempsey who had other ideas and went about chasing down the target. He got good support from McClean and Gaw but it was Dempsey who did all the damage as he combined pushing the ball into the gaps with some big hitting, one of his 2 6s ending up in the next field.

With Larne down to needing 8 runs to win Dempsey hit another glorious shot which appeared destined for another 6 but the Larne hearts sunk as a Vale fielder sprinted round the boundary and took a running catch just inches from the line. When it came to the final 2 balls 6 runs were still needed, but it was not to be as Larne came up 5 runs short of a win which would have went a long way to securing their section 2 status.

That was the 5th game this season that Larne have lost by such a small margin and what could have been a position of mid table comfort has now become a relegation scrap. A tough run in sees Larne face the 3 teams chasing the league as well as Holywood, but they are all at home where Larne have performed well this season. This weekend sees the visits of Muckamore and Carrick to Sandy Bay. Larne First Eleven is kindly sponsored by the Curran Court Hotel.

Match Summary:-

Laurelvale 223-9 (R Conn 79*, A Wylie 38)
Larne 218 (K Aiston 71, J Conn 3-40)
Laurelvale won by 5 runs