There were mixed fortunes for Downpatrick 1st XI this week in matches against Premier League opponents – on Wednesday evening they comfortably defeated Lisburn in a 20/20 clash at Strangford Road but on Saturday they crashed to a heavy defeat in the Challenge Cup at Stormont against CSNI.

In the 20/20 match Lisburn won the toss and chose to bat first.  Some tight bowling and fielding by Downpatrick restricted them to 118 after their allotted overs, with the pick of the Downpatrick bowlers being James Cunningham with 3 for 17 and Muhammad Farrukh 2 for 20. In reply, Downpatrick got off to the worst possible start with both openers back in the pavilion with only a handful of runs on the board but excellent innings from James Magowan (51 n.o.) and James Cunningham (44 n.o.) saw Downpatrick comfortably reach their required target after 17.3 overs to record a morale boosting 7 wicket victory.

In the Challenge Cup clash at Stormont on Saturday, CSNI won the toss and elected to bat first on a very flat track in perfect overhead conditions. The Downpatrick bowlers worked hard to restrict the CSNI opening batsmen and claimed their first wicket in the 21st over when Dale Mullan had A Cowden trapped LBW with the score on 80. This brought Ireland international Nigel Jones to the crease to join former Saintfield professional Mark Ellison and between them they formed a 63 run partnership to take the CSNI total to 143 before Jones was dismissed LBW of the bowling of James Cunningham. Ellison went on to make 96 before being caught at long off by Muhammad Farrukh off the bowling of Justin Rea with the score on 184. The CSNI total after their 50 overs was 216 which reflected an excellent effort by the Downpatrick bowlers well backed up by some excellent work in the field. The pick of the Downpatrick bowlers were Justin Rea (2 for 37) and James Cunningham (2 for 40).

By the time Downpatrick were ready to bat the conditions overhead had become overcast which was likely to help the CSNI bowlers but no one in the ground could have anticipated the extent of the Downpatrick batting collapse that was to follow. The first wicket fell with only 1 run on the board but Dale Mullan and Muhammad Farrukh steadied the ship and took the total through to 39 before Farrukh departed caught behind for 14 to become Jones second victim. Downpatrick lost their next wicket at 48 and then the collapse set in with the loss of 3 wickets with the score on 52 and a further 3 with the score on 60 before ending all out for 65 with Mullan top scoring on 25.

There were many positives in this defeat but Downpatrick will have to dust themselves down and prepare for a busy period of league action beginning with two matches this weekend (away to Dundrum on Saturday and home to Derriaghy on Sunday).

Downpatrick Cricket Club's midweek team travelled to Donaghadee for their latest match in the NCU Midweek League. Fielding a largely inexperienced side, Downpatrick opened the batting and posted a total of 87 runs; most notable batting performances came from Devon Wright (26) and Thomas Boyd (31 n.o.).

In response, Donaghadee reached the required target in just over 13 overs, losing two wickets in the process.

The under 11 team played their first match on Monday evening against Saintfield U11 in a friendly – both sides rotated their large squads to give everyone a chance to participate – the Downpatrick players catching the eye included Dan Browne and Peter Corrie.

The U13’s played a league game at home to North Down on Friday evening and batted first to set a target of 83. Top scorers for Downpatrick were Jonny Perry (23) and Charlie Power (18). In reply North Down got the required runs with 3 overs to spare with Charlie Power being the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 13. Downpatrick will get a chance of revenge on Tuesday evening when they play the same North Down side in the Banoge Cup in Comber.

The Downpatrick Cricket Club Summer Ball is planned for Saturday 25th June and if previous years are anything to go by this will be an excellent night out. Tickets cost £35 and include a 4 course meal, auction and dancing to The Brokers. For further details please contact David Rea (07766 577955).