Larne Cricket Club

Larne's Fourth XI grabbed a sensational one-run victory over Armagh on Saturday. In a match played on a specially prepared grass wicket at Larne Grammar School, their Fourths won the toss and elected to bat. Curator Esler Burke had done a superb job in preparing the wicket, and everyone involved in the match owes Esler a debt of gratitude for his efforts in preparing the pitch. It meant that the dreaded artificial wicket was not needed, and produced a much more interesting game of cricket that might have been expected on the plastic pitch.

Larne when soon in trouble when John Hood and Steven Brennan were both caught off the bowling of Ellis, but the experienced Jimmy Hunter and the returning Steven Church steadied the innings with a valuable partnership of 32. Hunter in particular played an important innings, and although his 21 might not sound like a big score, the fact is that he batted almost twenty overs without giving a chance and laid a fine foundation for the home side. It was not a day for quick scoring, with the long boundary and slow outfield almost making every run worth two. Hunter and Church were both dismissed by the off-spinner though, and Larne were again in trouble at 61-4 when Chris King came to the wicket.

On a day when two wicket keepers lit up the test match at Lords, Larne wicket keeper King hit a lightning 19 to boost the scoring rate. His knock included the shot of the day, a scintillating six over cover point from a decent delivery from the spinner. King though was cruelly run out just as he was threatening to change the game, although he was to play a crucial role later in the day. It was left to the youthful trio of Dean McDonagh, Cameron Ruys and Andy McGarrell to see Larne past the hundred mark, and their eventual total of 112 did not seem likely to overly tax the strong Armagh batting line-up.

Larne's eventual victory owed much to Andrew Semple, who took the new-ball and produced a devastating burst of fast swing bowling which destroyed the Armagh top-order. He was almost un-playable throughout his seven-over spell, and finished with four wickets for just six runs. No batsman managed anything other than a single off his bowling, and he also managed to pass the outside edge on numerous occasions. He was helped by some fine fielding, with Hunter grabbing a sharp chance at leg-slip and King also holding a difficult chance behind the stumps.

At the other end though, runs were coming at an alarming rate. Only two of the Armagh wickets fell to bowling from the Pavilion end, and for some strange reason all the home bowlers struggled from this end. Andrew McGarrell produced some fine deliveries, but it was the veteran Frank Parkinson who put the home side back in contention with a typically accurate and testing spell of bowling. He bowled his seven overs straight through and finished with figures of 7-1-16-2, and with Dean McDonagh also bowling some tight overs Larne were still in with a chance even when Armagh reached 87-5 in the 23rd over. At this point Armagh needed just 25 to win from 12 overs with 5 wickets left - but Larne were not finished yet.

Parkinson broke the sixth wicket stand though when he won an lbw decision having had several close shouts turned down. The umpiring on both sides was scrupulously honest all day, with three lbw decisions and one close run out all being given. Larne generously declined to appeal when one batsman was extremely late in arriving at the crease, and were rewarded later when they found themselves a fielder short after Brennan injured himself making an excellent stop in the covers and Armagh generously provided a sub-fielder. Young Richard Hood was also called onto the field, and he did a fine job in the deep.

Larne captain Michael Lyle now brought himself back on after he had earlier been hit out of the attack, and he was rewarded with two wickets. The match was now heading to its dramatic conclusion, with Armagh needing just 14 runs with only two wickets left, and plenty of overs. Lyle decided to use his seventh bowler now, bringing the young Cameron Ruys on for his first bowl for the Fourths. The youngster found his line and length right from the start, and was extremely hard to play. Armagh though had one batsman, Ellis, well set and into the twenties, and he threatened to win the match. However, when they needed just four runs to win, his partner nudged a ball from Ruys through the third-man area and, instead of taking the easy single, he pushed for two runs.

Andy Semple, who had long finished his spell, smartly grabbed the ball and fired in a quick return. It was a good throw, but wicket keeper Chris King still had a lot of work to do. He dived to his left and gathered the ball in, and just managed to take the bails off to run the batsman out. It was a brilliant piece of teamwork, and exemplified the good team spirit that Larne had shown all day. So with one wicket remaining, Armagh now needed three runs to win, or two to tie. Their final batsman emerged from the pavilion, and to everyone's relief, he was a young batsman of small stature.

Looks though can be deceiving, and the young man calmly defended a few balls before launching an on-drive which threatened to end the match. The ball though had been hit in the air, and the mid-on fielder made a great effort to catch the ball, only to see it, and possibly the match, slip to the ground. Armagh now needed just two to win, and Ellis, who was by now 25 not out, took strike against Ruys. It seemed Larne were beaten, but Cameron Ruys kept his nerve and sent down a good delivery on off stump which bounced a little more than expected. The batsman checked his shot, but he did so just too late and the ball flew high toward the cover region. Steven Church was the fielder, and he did fantastically well to run back and judge an extremely difficult catch to perfection. The ball nestled in his hands, and Larne had triumphed by just one run as Armagh were dismissed for 111.

It was a brilliant finish to a truly memorable match, which was kindly sponsored by The Curran Court.