Bangor Fall Short in Opening Day Defeat
3 min read
Bangor fell to an opening day defeat by 13 runs against Armagh at the Mall on Saturday. Never an easy place to travel, Armagh proved to be marginally better with the bat in what turned into a tight contest. Although Adam McCusker’s men will be disappointed at the loss, they showed great resolve to get themselves back into the match that could easily have been a heavy defeat. Bangor can now look forward to the rest of the season with optimism and renewed vigour.
Despite many of the fixtures being called off on this the opening day of the 2021 season, the weather in Armagh was fine by the time the match was dues to start. The rain that had fallen made it an easy decision for McCusker when he won the toss. He elected to field hoping that the soft outfield conditions would make it difficult for the Armagh pairing of Hoey and Rogers. Sadly, the experience Armagh pairing were well used to batting on the track and they began quickly. The score had reached 35 after only five overs before Josh Bates got the first wicket of the new season when he got one to move away to Hoey, expertly taken by James Griffin behind the stumps.
Steenson joined Rogers at the crease and steadily began to increase the score. Batting sensibly the two wily campaigners gave very few chances while scoring at seven an over. Once more it was Josh Bates, the pick of the Bangor bowlers, who made the breakthrough when he had Steenson caught behind in the 12th over. At the other end, James Patterson had joined the attack. His slow bowling began to slow the run rate down and built pressure on the Armagh batsmen. A bit of smart work by Patterson resulted in the crucial run out of Rogers who had stealthily made his way to 38. This was to prove a turning point in the innings as Bangor began to claw their way back into the match.
When Rogers departed the score was 91 with five overs of the innings remaining. Chris Pyper carried on where Bates had left off bowling sharply and giving very few chances to score. The exciting youngster was unfortunate not to pick up a wicket but bowled his four overs for only 17 runs. It was left to Patterson to pick up the final wicket of the innings, clean bowling Russell with the last ball of his spell. The final three overs of the innings only conceded 11 runs meaning than Armagh scored 114 from their 20 overs. This was a fine effort from a Bangor side who really applied themselves in the field. Armagh would have expected at least 30-40 more runs from the position they were in so at the half-way stage Bangor were well in the match.
The second half started with some fine bowling from the opening Armagh pairing of Wilson and Wright. Bangor struggled to get the ball away and lost the wickets of both openers, Patterson and Martin within the first four overs. Patterson was caught behind and Martin was unfortunate when a ball kept low catching him LBW. The skipper and effervescent Taj Onyekwelu began to store some solidity to the Bangor innings. Together they took the score from a lowly four to 26 before McCusker was caught trying to increase the pace. When Onyekwelu fell only four runs later again to a fine catch in the seep, it looked like Bangor might capitulate.
Gladly, this was not to be the case. Will Simpson and James Griffin set about repairing the Bangor innings. Griffin played shots all around the ground while Simpson aggressively smashed the ball to the boundary with consummate ease and style. It was great to see Simpson begin to fulfil his oft vaunted potential and he made a chanceless 20 before he was bowled by Hoey. Chris Walton and Ben Escott both displayed great temperament in their contributions, displaying exactly why Bangor should have cause for great hope for the season to come. Walton was outstanding adding an unbeaten 24, while Escott who has limitless potential added a well crafted 13, also unbeaten before the overs ran out. Bangor finished on 101, only 13 runs short. It was very much a case of what might have been.
Armagh 114-4 (20 Overs)
Rogers 38
A Hoey 25
Josh Bates 4-0-18-2
Bangor 101-6 (20 Overs)
Walton 24*
Simpson 20
M Hoey 4-0-19-3
