Killyclooney and Brigade top Long’s SuperValu senior league
It’s all change at the top of the Long’s SuperValu senior league this evening after the top two going into Saturday’s fixtures- Donemana and Strabane- both lost and were overtaken in the table by Killyclooney and Brigade.
The Beechgrove side have been here before of course but although it’s very early in the season they’ll be loving life up the Ballyheather Road this weekend.
Timmy Dougherty’s men got the better of Strabane on Saturday courtesy of a solid bowling performance and another half century from mam-of-the-moment, Blayde Capell.
Batting first in ideal conditions, Strabane were restricted to 183 all out, with their impressive overseas man Nasir Nawaz making 85 of those (6 fours, 8 sixes).
Unfortunately for the Red Caps there were few willing partners for Nasir once Aaron Gillespie had departed for 24.
Kenzie Hall was excellent with the ball for his 4-22 with skipper Dougherty chipping in with 2-18.
Capell dominated the start of the reply- rattling to 50 just before the tea break however he didn’t last long after the resumption and was out for a 26-ball 56 (8 fours, 3 sixes).
The captain picked up the baton from there however; Dougherty making an unbeaten 42; sharing a 66-run stand with Mark Gordon who also made 42 as ‘Clooney got home by 5 wickets.
Ryan Gallagher and Usman Azhar picked up two wickets each for the visitors who slip to joint fifth.
Donemana slipped up against in-form Fox Lodge at the Holm despite former Foxes overseas player Geeth Kumara making 73 for the hosts.
Ricky-Lee Dougherty added 43 and DJ Dougherty 40 as Donemana set a target of 238 with Aaron Heywood (3-37), Jonny Robinson (3-43) and Adam Walker (2-33) among the wickets.
The Ballymagorry side were soon on Donemana’s tail with Gayan Maneeshan-dropped without scoring- hitting 10 fours and 4 sixes in his 81 while Travis Nicholl made 47 (1 four, 4 sixes), Brian Allen 31 and Robinson 26 as Heywood’s lads passed the winning line with 5 wickets to spare.
Brigade moved level on points with ‘Clooney at the top courtesy of an impressive 7-wicket win over Eglinton at Beechgrove.
Liam Doherty top scored with 85 and Mike Erlank added 55 as the villagers posted a competitive 249-8 batting first.
David Barr (3-46) and Brigade’s Jamie Millar (2-42) were best with the ball and the home side made short work of the reply with Iftikhar Hussain in scintillating form for them.
‘Ifti’ hit 24 fours and 2 sixes in a marathon knock of 167 not out with Scott Macbeth chipping in with 24 to give the Limavady Road side the points.
Newbuildings got their campaign back on track with an 8-wicket win at Bready.
Gavin Roulston’s 27 and 26 from Kyle Magee were the best of Davy Scanlon’s side’s 143 all out; Ross Dougherty taking 4-15, Ross Hunter 3-19 and Johnny Thompson 2-14 for the visitors.
Hanu Viljoen (52*) and Ryan Hunter (32*) shared an unbroken third wicket stand of 83 to steer Newbuildings to a comfortable win after Mark Hanna had made 36 at the top of the order.
Ardmore are now the only unbeaten team left in the league, albeit they’ve only played twice so far, after they beat Coleraine for the second time in three days.
Scott Campbell top scored with 67 at the top of the Bannsiders’ order with Marcus Poskitt chipping in with 43 and Matty Smyth 34 in a total of 220-8.
There were two wickets apiece for Sabin Babu and Aviwe Mgijima and the latter was also in commanding form with the bat in Ardmore’s successful chase.
The overseas man hit 7 fours and 3 sixes in his 85 not out with Dharm Singh making a vital 63 (9 fours, 2 sixes) at the top of the order.
Skipper Rachit Gaur added 26 as Ardmore claimed the points in a 5-wicket win.
Ballyspallen claimed their first league win of the season with a thumping 108-run success at home to St Johnston.
The runs were shared out as ‘Spallen set the Donegal men a target of 227- Demith Perera making 62, Stuart Kennedy 44, Luke Gilfillan 33 and Kyle Morrow 26 not out.
Dawie Barnard (3-35), Nathan Cole (2-46) and Jacob Maroske (2-47) were among the wickets for the Saints, however their batting failed to fire in response.
Jack Macbeth’s 25, Nathan Cole (24) and an unbeaten 22 from David Anthony was the best of it as the home side’s bowling kept the upper hand.
Stuart Kennedy (3-23) along with two wickets apiece for Perera, Clive Rodgers and Hames Thompson earned a very valuable home win.
Glendermott are still rooted to the bottom of the table after a 77-run defeat at Bonds Glen.
David Cooke’s 85 and 75 from Samuel Haslett set the Bee Gees on their way with a 146-run partnership with Raymond Curry (43*) and Heinrich Roberts (32) contributing to the home side’s 264-4.
Ben Mills hit 81 in Glendermott’s reply with Alan Johnson (35) and Tylor Moor (29) also showing fight, however Mark Snodgrass (5-31) ensured the points stayed at home with an impressive spell of bowling.
Kyle Moore and Matty Barr claimed two wickets apiece as the Rectory side’s miserable start continued.
LONG’S SUPERVALU SENIOR LEAGUE- CURRENT STANDINGS
| TEAM | PLAYED | WON | LOST | NO RESULT | BONUS PTS | TOTAL PTS |
| 1-Killyclooney | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 72 |
| 2-Brigade | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 72 |
| 3-Fox Lodge | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 69 |
| 4-Donemana | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 55 |
| 5-Newbuildings | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 55 |
| 6-Strabane | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 54 |
| 7-Coleraine | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 49 |
| 8-Bonds Glen | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 49 |
| 9-Bready | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 48 |
| 10-Ardmore | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 46 |
| 11-St Johnston | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 43 |
| 12-Eglinton | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 29 |
| 13-Ballyspallen | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 27 |
| 14-Burndennett | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 15-Glendermott | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
