Downpatrick  1st XI endured a tough weekend when they were comprehensively defeated in two Ulster Bank Section 1 league matches.

On Saturday the locals visited Derriaghy, a rehearsal for the Ulster Shield Final on Sunday 14th August when the two sides square up at the same venue – Downpatrick will be hoping for more success in the final as on Saturday they finished a very distant second behind an impressive Derriaghy display.

The visitors won the toss and elected to ask Derriaghy to bat first. This proved to be a huge error as the Derriaghy opening batsmen looked very comfortable from the outset and after 4 overs had plundered 41 runs.

The pace of the run accumulation slowed slightly with the introduction of Dale Mullan to the attack and he claimed the first wicket in the 7th over when he clean bowled the Derriaghy professional for 22. This brought Craig Lewis to the wicket and he picked up where he had left off 2 weeks ago when he scored 103 not out against Downpatrick in a 20/20 match. Lewis again looked impressive and formed a fruitful partnership with the other Derriaghy import, South African Chris Daubney, to take the score to 119 before Daubney was out caught and bowled by Mullan for 61.

On a hot afternoon on a small ground Downpatrick toiled in the field with little success and Derriaghy had amassed a total of 233 before losing their third wicket. At this stage Lewis was still at the crease and alough the Downpatrick attack did pick up a further 4 wickets (2 for skipper James Magowan and one each for Professional Muhammad Farrukh and Ben McIlroy) Lewis batted through to finish on 112 not out with the Derriaghy total reaching 349 for 7 after their 50 overs.

This total always looked too much for the Downpatrick batsmen who were well behind the required run rate right from the start of the innings and when they lost opening batsman Jeremy McCready (8) quickly followed by Muhammad Farrukh (0) and James Magowan (7) the chase petered out and the visitors eventually limped to a total of 151 all out after only 35 overs with only Dale Mullan (31),and Gavin Ringland (30) showing any real resistance.
 
On Sunday Downpatrick faced Woodvale at The Meadow. Rain delayed the start and the match was reduced to 45 overs. Downpatrick won the toss and this time elected to bat first but got off to the worst possible start when Ben McIlroy was trapped LBW in the third ball of the match with no score on the board.

Professional Muhammad Farrukh was also back in the pavilion 8 balls later having scored 2, leaving the score at 3 for 2 after 2 overs. James Magowan joined Jeremy McCready in the middle and they took the score to 23 before Magowan was snapped up at mid wicket for 12. McCready was dismissed shortly after for 28 and Dale Mullan (3) & Paul Tate (7) both quickly followed leaving the score at 65 for 6.

Gavin Ringland and Michael Carson staged a mini revival taking the total to 90 before Carson was out LBW for 19. Justin Rea (3) and Jamie Thompson (5) both stayed briefly with Ringland to help the score along to 126 for 9 when Daniel Carson, the last batsman, came to the crease. At this stage, Ringland had been batting superbly showing great patience in picking his shots and he and Carson put on 53 runs for the last wicket to take the Downpatrick total to 182 for 9 after their 45 overs. Ringland finished on 72 not out of 73 balls including 4 sixes and 5 fours well supported in the last wicket stand by 18 not out by Carson. This was a remarkable recovery to give the home side some hope of defending the target.

At the interval the rain reappeared and when play recommenced the Woodvale target had been recalculated via Duckworth Lewis to 162 off 35 overs. For a second day in a row, the Downpatrick bowlers found the going tough and although a couple of early catches were dropped, the Woodvale batsmen did not look in too much trouble. Downpatrick did take 2 wickets through run outs to leave Woodvale at 57 for 2 but they picked up only one further wicket (bowled by Danny Carson) as Woodvale cruised to their required target with 6 overs to spare.
 
Other results at the weekend mean that Downpatrick remain in 4th place in the league but the gap below them has narrowed significantly as teams battle to avoid the fourth relegation place. Next weekend Downpatrick face tough away fixtures against league leader Lurgan on Saturday and a Holywood team battling for survival on Sunday and the local side will be looking for a significant improvement in all departments.