Laurelvale v Larne - Saturday 14th August 2004 |
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On Saturday 14th August, Larne Second XI, sponsored by Larne Harbour Co., beat Laurelvale II by 5 wickets in League Division 2 Section 2. After the heart breaking defeat in the Intermediate Cup Final the previous week, it was a cruel fixture list that forced a rather flat Larne team back to victors Laurelvale for another League fixture. Larne won the toss and, although conditions were ideal for batting they decided to back their bowlers and field first – a decision that was justified as early as the first over when Eddy Hunter had the Laurelvale skipper well caught at first slip by Tony Anderson. For the next 25 overs Larne bowled beautifully with absolutely no luck, restricting the score to less than 60 runs on an easy paced batting strip. Jonathon King was particularly unfortunate as he beat the bat at least twice an over all the way through his 10 over spell. The next 25 overs were a different story as although Larne continued to bowl well the fielders let the bowlers down with numerous catchs going to ground. Chief beneficiary was Peter Weir with several Larne fielders feeling very guilty as completed an undefeated century. With so many wickets in hand Laurelvale were able to score freely in a final 10 over onslaught that took them to an imposing total of 230. With such a large score to chase Larne needed a positive start and Tony Anderson took up the challenge racing to 30, out of a total of 45, before he was stumped trying to force another boundary. The Laurelvale spinners then created a bit of a stranglehold for the next 7 overs as Larne lost a further 2 wickets with only 6 runs scored. This brought the experienced pairing of Graeme Leitch and Trevor Dempsey to the crease knowing that a large partnership represented Larne’s only chance of staying in the match. Both players are regular First eleven cricketers and with plenty of overs to bat they began to take the game back to Laurelvale. Leitch was initially the more commanding batsman which was a superb effort given that he was batting in severe pain, having severely damaged a finger attempting a catch during the Laurelvale innings, however Dempsey was also accumulating steadily and when Leitch departed for 47 the sole chance of victory lay with Dempsey being there at the finish. A brief innings from Jonathon King brought Moore to the crease with 69 runs required in less than 10 overs. Fortunately Moore was into his stride early with a four off the first ball faced and with Dempsey in increasingly commanding mood the game began to swing away from Laurelvale. With their best bowlers having bowled out Dempsey launched into a ferocious assault and mixed with some dodgy running, Larne were scoring at almost 10 runs an over as they passed the Laurelvale total with more than 2 overs to spare. Moore had contributed only 20 runs to the partnership as Dempsey dominated to finish on a magnificent 86 not out – his highest ever score for the club. Scorecard:- |
