Bangor Come up Short in Junior Cup Final
5 min read
The prestigious Junior Cup Final came to Upritchard Park with Bangor’s reward for their thrilling win over Downpatrick in the Semi Final was a home final against league leaders Lurgan. Saturday’s conditions started nicely with outbreaks of sunshine albeit with a brisk breeze blowing across the ground. Bangor won the toss and fancied a bowl first to try and put the visitors under some early pressure with the threat of rain growing throughout the day.
The impressive Michael Skelly who has had a real breakthrough season was given the new ball along with Josh Bates. Johnston, Lurgan’s big threat with the bat, got off to a good start while Grieve at the other end was a bit more circumspect but together, they got Lurgan into a good position of 30-0 after 6 overs. Skelly eventually got one to break the defences of Grieve as he rearranged his off stump in the 7th over. One brought two as in his next over Skelly found the edge of Hunter with the grateful gloves of Kirkpatrick snaffling up the next opportunity and Bangor were back in the game with the score on 35-2 after 9 overs.
A change of bowling ensued with George Prince and Andrew Gowdy coming on as the game entered a crucial phase with Johnston well set and he was joined by another of Lurgan’s big threats with the bat, Stephen Chambers. Both bowlers kept things fairly tight with just 31 runs coming from the next 8 overs but frustratingly for Bangor no wickets availed as a number of nearly chances came and went with some edges not carrying, a crucial missed run out opportunity and a dropped chance of Johnston. The score at the halfway mark was 81-2 and things were well in the balance.
The next 10 overs were dedicated exclusively to spin bowling with Andrew Gowdy continuing his fine spell of bowling at the top end with Will Simpson and James Patterson rotating at the bottom end. Bangor still went wicketless during the next 10 overs as Johnston and Chambers went through their gears fuss free and increased the scoring rate to around 5 an over and reached 132-2 at the end of the 30th over. Special mention to Gowdy who bowled beautifully for no reward with his 8 overs only conceding 30 runs. A costly 31st over for Bangor yielded 17 runs and with the skies darkening a heavy shower hit the ground and thanks to the grounds team on the day managed to get all the covers on before any damage to the square could be done.
A lengthy break ensued, and an early tea break was taken but with the addition of an hour’s grace for the final no overs were lost during the hour break for rain. Lurgan flicked the switch and began to attack and crucially for Bangor, Patterson picked up the wicket of Johnston but considering the earlier missed opportunities the damage was done as he made a brilliant 88. His partner in crime Chambers was still there and causing Bangor and Skipper Parker issues as he tried to wrestle back control. A mixture of 4 bowlers bowled the final handful of overs with a few wickets continuing to tumble (two for Bates & one for Skelly) but Chambers was on strike for the final ball. He was on 94 as he eyed up a maximum to take him to a well-deserved century and he drove firmly in the air over Extra Cover and was a matter of inches away from a 6. Lurgan finished on 219-6 from their 40 overs, the upper echelons of a par score.
Bangor batsmen Patrick McMillan and Jonny Parker strode out looking to get Bangor off to a good start, but the skies above darkened once more and only 1 over was completed before the covers were brought on once again. Another hour’s break ensued and this time DLS would come into the equation with Bangor’s target of 220 changing to 198 from 33 overs, a chase of 6 an over would provide a challenge for Bangor.
Bangor continued their strong startwith the bat despite the loss of McMillan (who felt hard done by an LBW decision from the umpire) and were 33-1 in the 6th over before Skipper Parker was cruelly dismissed after his defence of the ball, the ball somehow rolled on to the stumps dislodging the bails. A few balls later Patterson was also dismissed unfortunately as he swivelled on a short ball to pick out square leg, another 2 feet of airtime and the ball would have gone for 4 runs. Bangor’s strong start had crumbled into an uphill task with the score 35-3 after 7 overs.
The change bowlers of Maxwell & Stafford were providing Bangor an issue with scoring opportunities limited as the pair of them kept things tight for Lurgan. A decent partnership between Kirkpatrick and Adam McCusker was beginning to develop as both batsmen picked up runs when offered without taking any chances. Kirkpatrick though was unfortunately dismissed for 23 in the 19th over and a few overs later he was joined back in the pavilion by McCusker who was dismissed for 18.
Some middle order runs from Ricky McLarnon came at a good rate to keep Bangor in with a sniff with the attacking Will Simpson well set to score heavily on 10. Both men as well as Skelly were dismissed in the space of 3 balls all but ending Bangor’s slim chances with the batsmen taking chances to try and score runs quickly. The tail had no option but to throw the bat and unfortunately for Bangor the side were all out in the 29th Over and 76 runs away from their DLS adjusted target.
A day that started out with huge promise ended in disappointment for the side, but they can hold their heads high for reaching the final at Upritchard Park and with not much separating both sides, on another day things could have turned out very differently. Congratulations to Lurgan and their supporters at the ground on a great day for their club and a huge thanks to all at Upritchard Park who came to watch and especially to those members who helped out with grounds duties along with Stephen Burns, the ground was in fantastic shape given the record amount of rainfall in July.
Match images from Joe McEwan
Match images from Cricket Europe
Lurgan 219-6 (40 overs, S Johnston 88, S Chambers 98*, M Skelly 3-45, J Bates 2-32)
Bangor 121 (28.3 overs, A Kirkpatrick 23, R McLarnon 28, A Johnson 2-13, C Grieve 2-21, P Stafford 2-31, D Nazari 2-29)
Lurgan beat Bangor by 76 runs (DLS)
DLS par score was 197 off 33 overs
